India and Canada on Sunday signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The deal, the ninth signed by New Delhi, significantly alters Canada’s stance towards India. The North American nation led the world in pushing for nuclear isolation after the 1974 tests in Pokhran.
The US, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Namibia and Britain are the eight countries that have already signed similar pacts with India.
Among other things, the India-Canada Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy provides for tie-ups in design, construction, maintenance, supply of uranium and waste management.
The two countries can also promote cooperation in the development and use of applications related to health, industry, environment and agriculture.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper, assured that the safeguards had been built to check proliferation. Besides, Singh said India had a clean track record in securing nuclear facilities.
“The civil nuclear agreement that we have signed breaks new ground in the history of cooperation in this sector. It reflects the change in international realities and will open new doors for mutually beneficial cooperation,” he added.
Harper said that the mindset of the 1970s needed to change. At the heart of change in China’s stance was an opportunity for its companies to participate in a large market, where capacity is planned to be quadrupled to over 21,000 megawatt (Mw) by 2010.