N-deal with France to take time for operationalisation: PM

On Board PM's Special Aircraft, Oct.1 (PTI) Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said it will take quite
"some time" before the civil nuclear cooperation agreement
with France could be operationalised, a day after the landmark
accord was signed.

"It will take some time before this agreement(with
France) or other agreements that we sign to be
operationalised," Singh told reporters accompanying him while
returning home after his visit to the U.S. and France. The
prime minister said Tuesday agreements similar to the
Indo-French pact will be negotiated with other European
countries too.

Asked whether the agreement has finally cleared the
decks for French nuclear firms to have a share of the 100
billion dollar nuclear pie, the prime minister said the pact
signed in Paris was a framework agreement and there are
several steps to be taken by both countries to go through
various procedures.

"I think the sequencing will be decided on its own
merits," Singh said.

Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar also
indicated in Paris after the accord was initialled in the
presence of the prime minister and French President Nikolas
Sarkozy that it will take some time before the French nuclear
firms can set up shop in India.

Asked how soon can French nuclear companies expect to
win contracts, Kakodkar said there were some parallel
processes which needed to be followed like having additional
protocols in India-specific International Atomic Energy Agency
(I.A.E.A.) safeguards.

French nuclear giants like Areva, Alstorm and EDF
appear keen to do business with India in this field.

To a question on the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal which
is before the American Senate after getting the crucial
approval of the House of Representatives, Singh said he would
not comment and that he would like to see the final outcome of
the process that is underway in the Congress

Asked whether the Indo-U.S. nuke deal will have an
impact on elections in India, Singh said he was not an
astrologer.

But, he said, he believed that if India's concerns are
addressed properly the nuclear initiative will help India to
move forward to manage its energy situation in a manner that
is consistent with its national goals of combating climate
change through developing clean sources of energy.