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Monday, Jul 13, 2009
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Pakistan, terrorism top Manmohan’s agenda in Paris

Vaiju Naravane

Paris: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s very brief visit to France, which begins late on July 13 and ends less than 24 hours later on the afternoon on July 14, has suddenly taken on a new urgency following the G8’s decision to ban “full” nuclear cooperation with India.

France, which signed a civil nuclear energy pact with India on September 30 last, is a member of both the G8 and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).

At its meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, last week, the United States persuaded the world’s richest nations to ban the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) items to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including India.

How will the ban affect the agreement India signed with France last year? Will it remain unaffected by the new commitments on non-proliferation made by the G8 countries or would it undermine France’s determination “to extend wide-ranging bilateral cooperation from basic and applied research to full civil nuclear cooperation, including reactors, in nuclear fuel supply, nuclear safety, radiation and environment protection and nuclear fuel cycle management?”

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar, who co-signed the Indo-French agreement in Paris with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in September 2008, reacted to the latest reports on a G8 ban: “It would be a matter of concern if the G8 nations insisted on curbing transfer of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technology and equipment to all the non-signatories of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), including India”, he said.

The Indo-French agreement is now being examined by Parliament and has been tabled before the French Senate. French company Areva and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) are working on an agreement for two advanced EPR nuclear reactors. Such an accord would remain unaffected by the new G8 ban on the transfer of ENR items.

Economic assistance

Pakistan and terrorism will be high on the Prime minister’s agenda in Paris. France is keen to play a major role in the “Af-Pak” region and recently announced €300 million in economic assistance and another €12 million for rehabilitation of internally displaced persons during Pakistan President Zardari’s visit here on May 15. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had then quoted French President Nicolas Sarkozy as having agreed to a civilian nuclear agreement along the lines of the India-U.S. or Indo-French accords. An embarrassed Elysee Palace clarified that the talks had centred on Pakistan’s “nuclear safety,” but did not unambiguously deny such a possibility.

France’s interest in Pakistan as a sales outlet for French armaments is clear, especially since India has shown disinterest in the hugely expensive Rafale fighter plane. France has traditionally had extremely close military ties with Pakistan and although Paris has stopped playing a game of equilibrium between the two countries, it has kept its fires burning in Islamabad.

Special relationship

However, at this juncture, Paris is keen to underline its special relationship with India. In a communiqué, Mr. Sarkozy said he wished to “honour France’s strategic partnership with India” through Dr. Singh’s visit. France, he said, fully supported India’s bid for a U.N. Security Council seat and had called for an enlargement of the G8 to include India, Brazil, China and other emerging nations.

This is Prime Minister Singh’s second visit to France in less than a year. Mr. Sarkozy visited India for Republic Day in 2008 and will be travelling to New Delhi again in October, although it is still unclear if he will club that with a scheduled visit to Pakistan.

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