India, critically short of energy to fuel its booming economy, secured a new position in the world nuclear order Tuesday when it signed a landmark atomic energy pact with France.
The deal effectively ended a ban on countries engaging in civilian nuclear trade with New Delhi, which was imposed in 1974 when India used its civilian programme to produce and successfully test an atomic bomb.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in Paris after a week-long trip to the US where he saw the House of Representatives back a US atomic pact with India, signed the deal with his counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.
France, the world's second producer of nuclear energy after the United States, hopes to lead a worldwide revival of the industry fuelled by worries about global warming and soaring energy prices.
India is now allowed to go shopping for technology and nuclear reactors after the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted its ban on New Delhi in early September after hard lobbying by Washington.
Singh and Sarkozy made no public comment after signing the nuclear deal, but a French presidential advisor noted that "today we are at the intergovernmental stage, and after that the industrialists will begin their cooperation."
French nuclear giant Areva said Monday it hoped to negotiate the delivery to India of two third-generation European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs), as well as nuclear fuel.
India, which currently has 22 nuclear reactors, is seeking to expand its nuclear energy sector, opening up a market estimated at 100 billion euros (142 billion dollars) over 15 years.
India was banned from nuclear trade after it built an atomic bomb that it hoped would give it military dominance over its neighbour and rival Pakistan, which also went on to build its own bomb despite international protest.
Now New Delhi is a stratetgic partner for both the European Union and the United States and is seen as a relative haven of stability in an often volatile region, which includes Pakistan and Afghanistan.
India, a country of 1.1 billion people that many see as one of the future great powers of the 21st century, currently gets only a tiny fraction of its electricity from nuclear power.
Observers say that more nuclear plants in India could help reduce global demand for oil and gas worldwide, and proponents of nuclear energy say it will help the emerging economic giant fight pollution.
"The world needs India in its fight against global warming," said Sarkozy on Monday at an EU-India summit.
He said he did not see how "India can fight global warming without nuclear energy, which is a clean energy. That would be totally incoherent."
The United States is also keen to tap into the Indian nuclear market, but its own atomic trade pact with the world's largest democracy now must win approval from the Senate.
Senate approval is likely to be delayed because of the presidential election in November, delaying the US entry into the market.
Some US lawmakers have fought against the deal, which would allow New Delhi access to US technology provided it allows UN inspections of some of its nuclear facilities.
They argue that it rewards India for breaking the international nuclear rules and thus might encourage Iran, which is accused of using its civilian nuclear programme to build a bomb.
Critics of the potential US deal with India, which has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, say it undermines efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons
"The Senate should postpone action until the next Congress can figure out how to limit the damage from this deal," the New York Times wrote in a recent editorial.
France, India sign major nuclear deal
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