New Delhi
1 November 2007
India needs to take the next steps for operationalising the proposed
India-United States civil nuclear cooperation agreement for France to be able to increase
bilateral collaboration in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, according to French Minister
for Higher Education and Research Valerie Pacresse.
"France wants to increase civil nuclear cooperation with India but in order to go further,
India needs to sign a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency
and also get an exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group. We need a legal
framework to be implemented," she said on the sidelines of a function held at the India
Habitat Centre on Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Indo-
French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research.
Ms Pacresse, who was joined by Union Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal
for the event, said that the Indo-French bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation
"is on track" but that is not enough by itself. "There is an international law [and that law]
has changed. There has been an evolution [and] we have to respect international law,"
she explained. She felt that "going further in cooperation with the rest of the world" is
good for India and for the world as well but she hastened to add that France would not
want to interfere with the domestic issues of India or the India-US bilateral ties.
Dwelling on economic growth and sustainable development, the French minister said
that nuclear energy is a choice France made long ago. "We are happy we have made it,"
she said. "Nuclear energy is demanding choice because one has to be careful about
security, transparency but it is a virtuous choice because it reduces the emission of
greenhouse gases."
Ms Pacresse said in response to a question that France would like to explore new
avenues of scientific cooperation in "sensitive" subjects like civil nuclear energy and
space. She will travel to Bangalore for discussions with Indian officials on space
collaboration. The joint atmospheric satellite mission, called Megha-Tropiques (Megha
means cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques means tropics in French), is expected to be
launched in 2009.
Mr Kapil Sibal, in turn, said that the collaboration between the Department of Science and
Technology and Meteo France will also help to "modernise" the Indian Meteorology
Department and increase "interoperability". He said that there is a proposal to set up an
Institute of Water Technology with French partnership.
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