The sale of uranium from Canada to India can be the key to enhancing bilateral ties between the two countries, said the premier of Saskatchewan, one of Canada's provinces, during his visit to India this week.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, Premier Brad Wall said, "We are the second largest producer of oil of all the provinces in Canada. It is conventional oil, not oil sands oil."
Responding to a query on India still being an energy deficient nation, Premier Wall said, "If we build our pipelines to the coast, there might be an option there, and as I mentioned, uranium is the key."
"There are two markets in the world that are expanding - they are nuclear fleet in a significant way, others are doing it in some degrees-China and India. We have a long-standing relationship with India, because one of the original technologies for nuclear development in Canada was and is Saskatchewan. Now, we have this high grade fuel, the uranium, that we mind, the yellow cake, that will be a part of the answer to that question (of meeting India's energy demand), he said.
"So, we also have clean coal technology that works when we are capturing 90 percent of CO2 from an existing coal plant. We are selling it to the oil companies at a price comparable to combined psycho-natural gas. We are selling the off take CO2, the pollution that nobody wants, for selling to the other companies because they use it in hand store recovery as a solvent, and we think there might be an opportunity in terms of our technology for countries that continue to use coal," Premier Wall said.
On reports that developing countries like India are being used by developed nations as a dumping ground for unusable or use-by-date goods, Premier Wall was emphatic in saying "Oh, Absolutely Not".
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"We are grateful to be able to sell here in India. We are all for health and for nurturing a mutually beneficial trade relationship. We are selling it to oil companies in this market, high protein and high quality agricultural products, the highest grade uranium on earth is from our province; potash, we have 40 percent of the world's reserves. The crown jewels of our economy are what we offer to this market," said the Canadian leader.
"As the middle class grows here, as we mentioned, that demand for protein is going to increase, this is a half matter. It's the quite opposite, I guess, we want to be able to offer our best at the lowest price possible in the market to our friends for the longest time in India. This is long standing relationship," he added.
On what he felt about outcomes from his recent visits, Premier Wall said, "It's good to come back with the new acquaintances, when the government has changed, with all the new faces. The response has been very positive. All over the Asia, especially in India, even where the economy here is not performing like it was couple of years ago, 5-6 per cent growth is still stagnant for most of the world. In these fast growing parts of the world, they want food security, and these are the things that we offer. We felt very welcomed. We have enjoyed coming back, and we hope to be back soon. (ANI)
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