TORONTO: India and Canada on Monday signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as “breaking new ground in the history of our cooperation in this sector.”
Driving home the point about India's new status, he said: “It reflects the change in international realities.”
India and Canada have had a long but rocky relationship on nuclear cooperation after the nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also welcomed the agreement.
Both countries resolved to ratify the accord and complete all remaining steps soon. This is the next step before Canada starts selling nuclear reactors to India. Canada said the “agreement will provide access for Canada's nuclear industry to India's expanding nuclear market.”
Dr. Singh said both nations also agreed to try and take the bilateral trade up to $15 billion in the next five years, up from the current level of around $5 billion. A comprehensive economic cooperation agreement is being envisaged and the initial work on it was on.
The Prime Ministers favoured the early signing of the foreign investment promotion and protection agreement to facilitate its ratification and implementation. Other areas in which they agreed to increase cooperation are earth sciences and mining, transportation, natural resources, infrastructure, agriculture and agri-food cooperation and higher education.
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