India and Canada signed a deal to enable uranium sales to India after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Stephen Harper in capital Ottawa.
The commercial agreement reached with Canadian producer Cameco will allow India to purchase over 3,000 tonnes of uranium over the next 5 years.The agreement was a mere formality as the two governments had in 2013 cleared the more difficult hurdle of signing an appropriate arrangement agreement to facilitate commercial negotiations for supply of uranium to India from Canada, which has one of the world's largest uranium reserves.
To facilitate the agreement, Harper had famously waived off the initial Canadian demand for tracking of nuclear fuel by Canadian authorities and agreed to inspections by the IAEA only . India has signed a commercial deal with a Canadian company for supply of uranium for the next five years. India sees this agreement with Canada as a template for similar administrative arrangements with other countries like the US and Australia which are cooperating with India over peaceful uses of nuclear energy .
Modi, who became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Canada in 42 years for a standalone bilateral visit, had, in fact, announced last month on Twitter that he was looking forward to “sourcing uranium fuel for our nuclear power plants“ during his visit to Canada.
“The agreement on procurement of uranium from Canada for our civilian nuclear power plants launches a new era of bilateral cooperation,“ said Modi in a joint press statement with Harper. The Canadian PM too said he was particularly delighted to see the agreement move forward.
“During this visit, our two countries will resume commercial cooperation in civil nuclear energy after decades. This will be a defining symbol of our mutual trust and understanding, and of our willingness to look beyond the boundaries of the past to the opportunities of the future,“ Modi wrote in an opinion piece in the Canadian paper `The Globe and Mail'.
Asserting that the pessimism of the past about India has turned into optimism about the future, Modi said both countries will benefit immensely by an early conclusion of a Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
“I have come to build a strategic partnership with Canada in pursuit of India's economic transformation and a more peaceful, secure and stable future for our two countries,“ he wrote.
“Our relationship has been adrift in the past. The potential of our partnership remained a promise on a distant shore. However, in recent years, India and Canada have begun rediscovering each other,“ Modi said.
He lauded the Canadian Prime Minister's efforts in promoting bilateral ties, saying he has led with great vision to chart a new, more purposeful course in the relationship. “As in Canada, the relationship enjoys broad political support in India,“ Modi said adding that a “close strategic partnership“ between the two countries is natural. “The second-most-populous country in the world has shifted economic gear,“ he said.
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