India To Conduct Nuclear Business With France

By Jiang Yuxia

NEW DELHI, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- France will become the first country to conduct nuclear business with India. Both countries will sign a previously agreed text for bilateral civil nuclear cooperation on September 30 during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Paris, according to the Hindustan Times Sunday.

With this, both New Delhi and Paris have signaled that they won't wait for the ratification of the civilian nuclear agreement between India and the United States, which is now before the U.S. Congress. So, even if the U.S. Congress doesn't pass the deal, India will become a nuclear customer for France, the report said.

It also said that with the French already ready with the ink and paper, Russia can't be far behind. Sources confirmed a statement made by Russian Ambassador to India, Vyacheslav Trubnikov on Saturday, that an Indo-Russian agreement to buy reactors and fuel will be signed during the visit of President Dimitry Medvedev to New Delhi in December.



India is looking to buy uranium from Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) nations willing to sell to India.

However, recently India was ruffled by U.S. President George W. Bush's communication to the U.S. Congress suggesting that Washington had made no legally binding commitments on the supply of nuclear fuel to New Delhi. India plans to raise these issues before the two countries finally sign the deal.

Mr. Bush has invited Prime Minster Manmohan Singh to Washington on September 25 when both sides hope to sign the agreement, provided it has been approved by the U.S. Congress by then, sources said Saturday.

Source: Chinaview.Cn