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Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 13, 2006
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Helsinki prefers silence on nuclear deal

Siddharth Varadarajan

Finland matters since it heads European Union; it is a key state in the Nuclear Suppliers Group

PHOTO: PTI

WARM WELCOME: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his Finland counterpart Matti Vanhanen at the House of State in Helsinki on Thursday.

Helsinki: Despite a series of high-level bilateral meetings culminating in Thursday's summit between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen, Finland — which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union — continues to withhold public support from the U.S.-India agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.

But Indian officials familiar with what transpired at the summit-level dialogue cautioned against reading too much into Helsinki's official silence on the matter.

They said the Finnish side showed a much greater understanding of the initiative but did not want to take an open position yet since it represented the whole of the EU and there was no Europe-wide position on the deal as yet.

At a joint press conference here, Mr. Vanhanen dodged repeated questions whether his Government was in favour of the Nuclear Suppliers Group making an exception for India in its otherwise rigid rules prohibiting nuclear sales to countries that do not have full-scope safeguards.

Mr. Vanhanen first took refuge in the absence of a European consensus on the issue, and, when pressed to discuss his country's own national position, declined to do so.

"I am not going to give our individual position," he said. However, he did express the hope "that India can take part in all the international agreements we have in the field of nuclear energy."

Key investor

Finland, which is emerging as an important investor in India, is also the first European country in 15 years to begin building a new nuclear reactor. When completed by Areva and Siemens in 2009, the Olkiluoto 3 pressurised water reactor will produce 1600 MW of electricity.

The lack of a European consensus and Finland's own ambivalence reflect the dilemma many smaller NSG members face in trying to reconcile their traditional stand against nuclear weapons with the reality of India's rising strategic profile and need for `climate-friendly' energy.

Last month, at the opening ceremony of the 17th World Congress of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in Helsinki, Finland's Foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja said the task of upholding the NPT regime "is not made any easier by the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement, which leads to granting India, a country outside of the NPT, rights that are denied from countries subscribing to the Treaty."

Same views

On other issues, however, the two principals seemed to be on the same page. Dr. Singh deplored North Korea's nuclear test and urged quick resumption of the six-party talks, as did his Finnish host, who added that Pyongyang should "stop and give up" its nuclear weapons programme. And both men stressed the importance of high-technology related investment between Finland and India.

Asked by a Finnish journalist whether he agreed that Europe — with its aging population — was a "sunset continent" while India and Asia were a "sunshine" region, Dr. Singh said the situation now arising "provides unique opportunities for strengthening cooperation."

To other questions, he said the Indian Government opposed illegal immigration to Finland and Europe, and would look into ways of speeding up visa approval for Finns visiting India.

Doha round

On trade-related issues, Dr. Singh said the Doha round could be restarted only if Europe convinced the U.S. to cut its farm subsidies.

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