Nuke deal to come up for discussion during French Prez's visit

Bangalore, Nov 3 (UNI) The Indo-US Nuclear deal would come up for discussion during the forthcoming visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to India in January next year, French Minister for Higher Education and Research Valerie Pecresse said today.

Speaking to newspersons, after visiting the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here, she said France was keen to extend its nuclear cooperation with India. ''It would happen only after India signing framework agreement with IAEA and Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) countries and we need India to negotiate with these organisations,'' she added.

Ms Pecresse said she had deliberated the issue of Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation deal with Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal informally in New Delhi and he had informed that India was very much involved in the deal and was working to arrive at an agreement. ''It will be a good thing for India if the framework agreement is through,'' she commented.

UNI