France looks forward to signing N-agreement with India

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) - With the NSG allowing New Delhi
to have civil nuclear trade with the international community,
France is looking forward to signing an agreement with India
in the field which would involve assured fuel supplies, new
technology and possibly the reprocessing facility.

French Ambassador Jerome Bonafont, however, was evasive
on whether the agreement, which has already been initialled,
would be signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit
to Paris on September 30.

"We welcome that consensus (at the NSG) which meets the
non-proliferation goals, sovereignty of India and opens way
for cooperation between India and the world.

"End of this process is the beginning of a new chapter
in which France very much desires to be a key partner,"
Bonafont told reporters here amid preparations for Singh's
two-day visit to France from September 29.

Noting that the Indo-French civil nuclear agreement was
initialled during the visit of President Nicolas Sarkozy here
in January, he said the pact is "technically ready" but "some
procedures" were yet to be completed which is being done.

"We are discussing with the Indian government the best
time for signing the agreement," he said.

He, however, added that civil nuclear cooperation will
be high on agenda of discussions that Singh will have with
Sarkozy during their bilateral summit meeting in Paris.

His evasiveness may be seen in the context of India
having given an informal assurance to the U.S. that it will
not sign bilateral civil nuclear agreement with any other
country till the 123 pact is considered by the American
Congress.

To a question about reprocessing, the French envoy said
India has the right to reprocess and it has the technology to
do so.

"But, if request for reprocessing in France is made, we
will consider," said Bonafont, in whose country nuclear power
constitutes 80 percent of total energy generation.

After the agreement is signed, the contracts would have
provision for guaranteed fuel supplies, sources said.

France is particular to ensure that the reactors it sets
up have enough fuel to run and provision of fuel is part of
the agreement.

France also is unlikely to terminate its cooperation if
India were to conduct a nuclear test as there is no such
provision in the draft agreement, the sources said.

But France assumes that India will abide by its
commitment to unilateral moratorium on testing and would not
carry out a nuclear explosion.

Hailing India's track record on non-proliferation front,
Bonafont said the waiver by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers
Group came on the basis of New Delhi's commitments to
non-proliferation goals and IAEA safeguards. "It is good news
for us and the world besides India," he said.

He said the agreement would be comprehensive and would
also involve cooperation in technology, research, training and
safety aspects.

About 35 French companies have already explored
possibilities of entering the Indian civil nuclear market.

France played a key role in generation of consensus at
the NSG, with Sarkozy himself writing to leaders of various
countries seeking support for the initiative for India.