India, Canada ink civil nuclear agreement

Toronto, Jun 28: Indo-Canada civil nuclear deal was inked on Sunday, Jun 27 while the issue of Kanishka bombing still hovered around as a dark shadow.

Srikumar Banerjee, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, India and Foreign Minister of Canada Lawrence Cannon signed the civil nuclear agreement in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.

In the first ever visit undertaken by an Indian head to Canada after I K Gujaral's visit sixteen years ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held one-on-one talks with his counterpart Stephen Harper.

The delegation level talks provided for co-operation in civil nuclear energy including import of uranium and equipment from Canada. The deal also includes co-operation in fields of nuclear waste management and radiation safety.

The deal marks a new chapter in the Indo-Canada bilateral ties especially after Canada slapped sanctions against India after the country conducted the Pokhran I test in 1974 and Pokhran II test in 1998.

The Prime Ministers hailed the signing of the crucial agreement saying it "breaks new grounds" in the history of bilateral cooperation in the sector and committed themselves to the ratification of the agreement and completion of all remaining steps necessary to ensure its early implementation.

In a joint statement issued after the meet, the leaders also underscored the potential for mutually beneficial civil nuclear cooperation and trade.

The bombing of Air India flight 182 "Kanishka" on June 23, 1985 that killed 329 people on board, most of whom were Indian-Canadians also came up.

The two Prime Ministers observed the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the terror strike and condemned terrorism in all its forms.

OneIndia News