Ottawa, New Delhi clinch civil nuclear deal
A tremendous step forward in bilateral ties, says Harper
Port of Spain: India and Canada have successfully concluded a civil nuclear deal that will enable New Delhi to access Canadian nuclear technology and uranium after a gap of 34 years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the development "augurs extremely well" for the ties between both the nations.
The breakthrough was announced here on Saturday after Singh held talks with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at this Trinidad and Tobago capital.
"We have now got an agreement which means this is a tremendous opportunity for both countries," Harper said here while underlining that it was "a tremendous step forward" in bilateral relations.
"Canada is a supplier, obviously an integrated supplier in the nuclear energy field and India is an expanding economy that has great energy needs," Harper said. The nuclear agreement promises to transform bilateral relations that turned frosty when Ottawa cut off atomic trade after New Delhi's 1974 nuclear test.
The deal is likely to be signed when Singh goes to Canada to attend the G20 summit in June next year.
After this deal is inked, Canada will become the seventh country with which India has struck civil nuclear pacts since the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) allowed India to resume global nuclear trade in September 2008.
All in real gold
During his recent visit to the Sikhs' holiest shrine, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper could not believe that the Golden Temple was all covered with real gold. Harper was so struck by the sight of the resplendent Sikh temple that he asked someone in his entourage whether it was all real gold.
"When the prime minister had his first glimpse of the Golden Temple on that beautiful sunny day, he asked someone next to him: Is it real gold? ‘Yes, it is real gold, sir,' the person told the prime minister,'' says Amritsar-born Dr Birinder Singh Ahluwalia who was one of the eight top Indo-Canadians picked up by the prime minister for his India visit.
