INDIA AND France have signed a major co-operation agreement that will allow the European country to sell nuclear reactors to Delhi.
The pact followed a prior decision from the Nuclear Suppliers Group of lifting a ban that had denied India access to the international nuclear market for several years.
An official statement from the French government said the pact aims to “form the basis for enlarged bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and research” between the two countries.
The nuclear pact was signed by the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, following a meeting in France.
At the beginning of September, India established an agreement with the United States, which was due to be voted by the US Senate this week.
According to the terms of this deal, India will have access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel. In return, they will have to open their civilian nuclear facilities to inspectors. However, nuclear weapons sites will remain off-limits for the agreed inspections.
Indian authorities say the new nuclear agreements will help the country to reply to the growing internal energy demands.
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