France promises to join India in garnering support at NSG

France promises to join India in garnering support at NSG

France has promised to join it in garnering support at the Nuclear Suppliers Group which is required to change its rules to allow international community to have trade in the field with New Delhi.

PARIS: Keen to have civil nuclear cooperation with India, France has promised to join it in garnering support at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which is required to change its rules to allow international community to have trade in the field with New Delhi.

The key NSG member underlined that India is a responsible country and grant of waiver to it by the 45-nation grouping would strengthen the global Non-Proliferation regime, instead of weakening the system as apprehended by some quarters.

A week after Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar's visit here to hold talks on energy issues, senior French government officials said Paris wants to have civil nuclear cooperation with New Delhi as soon as possible with an aim of helping India "emerge" as a power.

In this regard, France is awaiting the waiver by NSG, the officials said, adding an Indo-French nuclear agreement would be on a "different scale" than the Indo-US deal.

It would involve transfer of crucial reprocessing technology that has been denied by Washington in the Indo-US deal.

"We feel that there is a necessity to introduce a change in the international system (on nuclear issue) to allow India to play its due role in it," a senior official of the French Atomic Energy Commission told a group of visiting Indian journalists here.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com