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France And India Hold Nuclear Cooperation Talks
New Delhi (AFP) Jul 30, 2007 Indian and French officials held talks on nuclear energy cooperation Monday and pledged to work on an accord similar to ones New Delhi has signed with the United States and Russia. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's diplomatic adviser met with India's national security advisor M.K. Narayanan and exchanged invitations for state visits to each country, a statement from the French embassy said. "Both parties stressed their common endeavour to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, including power generation plants, and agreed to conclude expeditiously a bilateral co-operation agreement thereof," the statement said. Adviser Jean-David Levitte passed an invitation for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit France in 2008, with India also inviting Sarkozy to New Delhi "at an early date," it said. France is racing for a part of energy-hungry India's nuclear energy market against the United States and Russia, both of whom have already signed agreements on the issue. Last week the United States and India announced they have finally adopted an operating agreement for a landmark nuclear deal, although the pact still has to be cleared by a skeptical US Congress. The deal allows US exports of civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India for the first time in 30 years, a move intended to reverse sanctions on the Asian giant for its nuclear tests as well as bypass limitations on such trade due to India's refusal to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement. The deal could open up a whopping 100 billion dollars in opportunities for American businesses, according to the US Chamber of Commerce. And earlier this year Russian President Vladimir Putin also promised during a state visit to New Delhi to provide nuclear reactors and power plants. World powers have been jostling for a slice of India's lucrative civilian nuclear energy market, although any contracts with India still must await approval by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which regulates the global nuclear energy trade.
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German Opposition To French-Libyan Nuclear Deal Unabated
Berlin (AFP) Jul 30, 2007German opposition mounted Saturday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new venture on the world stage in agreeing to build a nuclear reactor in Libya, despite efforts by Paris to reassure Berlin. The French government on Friday had sought to allay German fears of "recklessness" by assuring Berlin that all guarantees had been taken with regard to nuclear non-proliferation. The French-Libyan accord, which envisions building a nuclear reactor for a water desalination plant, is "a bitter pill for the EU," said Ruprecht Polenz, conservative head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in the newspaper Tagesspiegel am Sonntag. |
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