India, France ink pact on civil nuclear cooperation, defence

India and France today signed nine bilateral agreements, including one on nuclear energy, cooperation in the defence sector and strategic partnership in the fields of economy, education, research and tourism.

The two countries also reiterated their commitment to intensify the exchange of high-level bilateral visits and consultation in various areas of interaction to reinforce comprehensive strategic partnership.

The landmark deal on the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was signed by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and French Foreign Minister Philippedouste Blazy in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Jacques Chirac.

The agreement on defence cooperation was signed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie.

In a joint statement, both the countries said the this agreement was an important element of the strategic partnership, and would build and expand the existing cooperation in defence and military fields, defence industry, production, procurement, research and development of defence material, joint exercises, professional exchanges and training.

The French President had earlier stated at a joint press conference with Singh that his country was ready to help India in developing civilian nuclear energy. "Our support to India is principled. It needs to develop its energy sector to unlock its economic and developmental potential," he said.

Chirac added that India's record on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was in its favour and this encouraged France to come forward on the declaration.

He also made it a point to say France's support to India on these issues was not contingent upon economic agreements. "We are supportive of India's attempts at civilian nuclear power, and we do not foresee any problems with regard to any fallout on the world at large," he said.

Taking to reporters here after the signing of the deals, Prime Minister Singh said that "there existed untapped potential" for economic cooperation between the two countries and asked French companies to take advantage of India's rapid economic growth and science and technology potential.

Singh added that both countries had pledged to double bilateral trade within five years and had identified infrastructure, IT, pharmaceuticals, environment, advanced and new technologies, food processing, automobiles and aeronautics as priority sectors for forging business partnerships.

Small and medium enterprises have an important role to play in this regard and the two governments have decided to take specific actions to enhance cooperation between enterprises, with a particular focus on SMEs. The two governments would initiate a dialogue on the possible areas of cooperation in the field of Intellectual Property Rights, the joint statement added.

Following the talks PM Singh and President Chirac, Airbus Industrie and Indian Airlines today signed an agreement for purchase of 43 aircraft for the national air carrier at a cost of $2 billion.

In a move that would be a major boost to tourism, the two countries also signed an agreement to promote each other's destinations and share market research for this purpose. The MoU was between tourism minister Ambika Soni and visiting French Minister for tourism Leon Bertrand.

Both sides re-iterated the importance of the Strategic Partnership between India and the European Union and agreed to work together in further enhancing ties through the mechanism of the Joint India-EU Action Plan. They also agreed for closer cooperation in the space sector.