India keen on Canadian partnership for nuclear reactor sales in third countries

India is looking to strike up a potentially lucrative partnership with Canada to sell nuclear reactors in new markets, according to the Canadian press.

According to analysts, if India is able to realise its ambitious aspiration, it would represent a dramatic new phase in a pathbreaking initiative the two countries signed last year on civilian nuclear co-operation.

The deal announced in Toronto last  year by prime ministers Stephen Harper and Manmohan Singh would eventually clear the way for the import of Canadian uranium into India, after the ratification of the deal by the Canadian parliament, this fall.

However, India with its insatiable energy needs would be looking much beyond its borders to fully leverage its partnership with Canada.

In a recent interview Indian high commissioner to Canada, Shashishekhar Gavai said, India feels there was a good possibility for Indo-Canadian co-operation in third countries, which would be possible once things were sorted out.
 
He added India had developed its own technology over the years and could bring its own expertise to work with Canadian expertise in third countries where reactors were needed.

However, a key technical aspect of the civil nuclear deal would still need to be worked out prior to its formal ratification by Canada. An independent monitoring system would need to be in place to prevent diversion of the uranium to India's nuclear weapons programme.