Canada, India resolve nuclear feud
Uranium to be used for energy only
NEW DELHI Canada and India have resolved a dispute over how to implement a twoyear-old nuclear co-operation agreement that will see Canadian uranium exported to Indian authorities for the production of energy.
The development was announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday on the second day of his visit here, shortly after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
However, some major questions remain that government officials were unable to answer Tuesday evening. The outstanding questions include: When will the deal take effect so that Canadian companies can begin exporting uranium and building reactors in India? What kind of concessions, if any, did Canadian and Indian negotiators make to get a deal? What are the exact details on how much information Canada will get to ensure its uranium is not used to build nuclear weapons?
Instead, a Canadian official told journalists Tuesday that it’s customary that details of nuclear deals such as this remain confidential. However, he said that by the time negotiations concluded, Canada was “assured” that the information it needs from India is “equitable” to the type of details it requires when selling uranium to other nations.
“This a very important development for Canada,” Harper told a news conference. “This is an important industry in Canada among developed nations. We are one of the few that has the entire spectrum of the civilian nuclear energy industry — all the way from uranium production to the construction of reactors.”
He said he believes the deal will “pay dividends” in Canada by creating more jobs in the nuclear industry.
The prime minister said his government is “very confident” in the terms it has agreed to so the nuclear deal can be implemented.
Canada and India have been haggling over “administrative” arrangements on a nuclear deal that was announced with great fanfare by Harper and Singh in Toronto in 2010.
That nuclear co-operation agreement came after decades of distrust sparked by India’s use of Canadian nuclear technology for a weapons test in 1974.
When the nuclear accord was reached two years ago, it appeared to easily clear the way for Canada to sell its uranium and build reactors in India. But the issue became mired in negotiations over the details. Canada insisted that it wants India to provide information in the future to demonstrate that Canadian nuclear materials are used for peaceful purposes — not for further nuclear weapons proliferation.
India balked at this request, saying it wants to work through the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Under the administrative deal reached by negotiators, both countries will establish a “joint committee” to share information.
In a joint statement, Harper and Singh said their countries are “leaders” in nuclear technology and services and will develop “mutually beneficial partnerships in this regard.” They also “recognized that Canada, with its large and high-quality reserves of uranium, could become an important supplier to India’s nuclear power program.”
They said the deal will now come into effect at an “early” date in the future, although there are no specifics on timing.
Harper’s office distributed a written statement by Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission President Michael Binder, who said he was “pleased” that negotiations with India were now complete. “This is an important milestone,” he said.
“The arrangement will also ensure that the appropriate oversight is exercised with respect to the information required by Canada. Through this arrangement, Canada will receive the necessary assurances on the peaceful use of Canadian exports to India of nuclear material, equipment and technology, equivalent to arrangements with other countries.”
In an interview last week with Postmedia News, Harper insisted it was time to “turn the page” and move beyond the hostility of past decades that stemmed from India’s use of Canadian plutonium to build an atomic bomb. “We cannot be stuck in the 1970s,” he said.