No G8 worry as India and France discuss nuclear trade (Lead)

The G8 declaration on inhibiting the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technologies (ENR) to those countries who have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) would have no effect on India, Indian officials said here ahead of the meeting between Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy Tuesday.

"We are receiving no help from anybody," official sources said. It would have no practical effect for India, which had been enriching for long, they added.

When Manmohan Singh sits down for a working lunch with Sarkozy later Tuesday, the two leaders will discuss a host of bilteral issues, including the scaling up of civilian nuclear cooperation between the rwo countries.

France, a member of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group and part of the G8 group of the world's wealthiest countries, became the first country to sign a bilteral civil nuclear cooepration pact September 30 last year after the NSG rewrote its rules of nuclear commerce in favour of India.

The French nuclear conglomerate Areva is close to finalising a contract for setting up two advanced reactors of 1,650 MW each to be set up in Jaitpur, Maharashtra. Several rounds of discussions have been held between Areva represnetatives and officials of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

India was surprised by the G8's activism on raising the bar for the transfer of ENR technolgies to those countries which have not signed the NPT - a message it saw as targeted against New Delhi.

However, India need not worry, specially with regard to France. The bilteral nuclear pact with France permits India to reprocess French-origin nuclear fuel on its own. France has offered to to reprocess if India asks it to.

Russia is also understood to have agreed to let India reprocess fuel that it may supply. Moreover, India already has ENR technolgies and therefore the G8 ban will have little impact on it.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament Monday that India "was not deeply concerned [over the G8 stand]," as it had received country-specific clean waiver from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the NSG.

Last updated on Jul 14^th, 2009 at 16:04 pm IST--IANS