NEW DELHI, 14 November 2007 — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned from Moscow yesterday after a whirlwind visit during which India and Russia signed four accords, including a pact on a joint unmanned lunar exploration program.
The two countries also signed agreements on the joint development of a multirole transport aircraft, the resolution of issues related to the long-pending rupee-rouble trade and narcotics trafficking.
In the visit that lasted less than 36 hours, the two countries underlined the continued vitality of their strategic ties that continue to thrive despite major transformations in the world. Although the two countries could not sign a pact on Russia building four more additional nuclear reactors due to the stalling of the India-US nuclear deal, they decided to expand their civil nuclear cooperation.
Meanwhile, a top official said India will not strike a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation deal with any other country till it negotiates a safeguards agreement with the IAEA and a change in guidelines by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.
“India won’t break any international law,” the official said when asked about the absence of an agreement on Russia building four additional nuclear reactors at Kudankulam during Manmohan’s visit.
“We want a lifting of technology denial regime across the board. That is why we will not break the law and would first complete negotiations on India-specific safeguards with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” he said. India and Russia had signed a protocol of intent on the additional reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, where Russia is already building two light water reactors of 1,000 MW, during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi in January.
The two sides were expected to sign an agreement on additional reactors at Kudankulam during Manmohan’s visit, but the agreement had to be deferred due to the stalling of the India-US nuclear deal.
Technically speaking, there are no problems in India and Russia signing an inter-governmental agreement on Kudankulam reactors with a rider that it would become operational only after India’s IAEA safeguards pact and a clearance by the NSG. But both sides chose to defer it, as they wanted to play by the rules of global civil nuclear commerce.
That is why Manmohan described the Kudankulam deal as a “work in progress” at a joint press conference with Putin after their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow Monday.
In a clear signal that it is not the end of India’s quest for global civil nuclear cooperation, India and Russia decided to expand their civil nuclear cooperation despite the stalling of the India-US nuclear deal.
The deferment, however, does not mean the Kudankulam deal has gone into cold storage. “A memorandum of intent is also an agreement under the Vienna Convention of International Treaties. So we already have an agreement with Russia on building more reactors,” the official explained.
Two steps are required to be completed before the Kudankulam deal is operationalized: India has to complete the IAEA safeguards pact, which is being opposed by the Left allies of the Manmohan Singh government, and Russia has to seek exemption for the deal from the NSG.
France is also enthusiastic about entering India’s civil nuclear market after the 45-nation NSG guidelines are modified in favor of New Delhi. Russia and France were the first to offer support to India in the NSG after the historic July 18, 2005 nuclear deal.
But given the rigors of the international nuclear regime and India’s wish to be a responsible stakeholder in the area of non-proliferation, New Delhi will not enter into any unilateral civil nuclear deal with any other country till the approval of the India-US nuclear deal by the NSG.
