The Hindu : Front Page : Nuclear cooperation to be taken up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 09, 2005

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Front Page

Nuclear cooperation to be taken up

Amit Baruah

Manmohan-Putin talks may include United Nations reforms

MOSCOW: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to raise the issue of civilian nuclear energy cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday given the Indian decision to move a Bill in Parliament next week to tighten export controls.

Dr. Singh, who arrived in Moscow on Sunday evening, will attend the Victory Day military parade at Red Square on Monday morning along with 56 heads of State/Governments.

President Putin, who will have a bilateral meeting with Dr. Singh on Monday afternoon, is scheduled to have one-on-one talks only with U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Senior officials told correspondents accompanying Dr. Singh that India expected friendly governments to take a more sympathetic view of New Delhi's nuclear energy requirements following the introduction of the export control Bill in Parliament. They said the two leaders could also discuss the issue of United Nations reforms — an issue of considerable interest to India given its quest for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

Increasingly, it looks as if New Delhi is coming to terms with the fact that even if the expansion happens to include India, it is going to be "veto less."

Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal said on Sunday evening that New Delhi was planning investments worth a "few billion dollars" in Russia's energy sector. He said that India and Russia were looking at their energy relationship in a "strategic context."

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