Close to signing nuke deal with India: Canadian PM

In an exclusive interview with Ajit Jain, rediff India Abroad Managing Editor, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who recently completed his maiden visit to India, reveals that the two countries are very close to signing a nuclear agreement.

What is your evaluation of this trip to India?

I am very pleased with this trip. I think it is an important step forward.  We have been building to this for the last couple of years.  Now there's a lot of work still to be done.  We (have) started this comprehensive study on the economic partnership agreement with India.  This is a major step forward. We have to complete this study, take the next step and eventually work towards a (free) trade agreement.  Still, we got work to do on the energy side. 

Indians themselves have expressed strong interest in furthering our peace and security cooperation.  So, we will be exploring that area. 

India is going to be a rising power and this is something we really have to take mutual advantage of. 

During the November 16 luncheon speech in Mumbai, you referred to two points -- one on the civilian nuclear agreement and the other on the foreign protection promotion and investment agreement.

I didn't expect to sign these agreements on this trip.  We have been negotiating these for a while and we are very close to an agreement on both.  So I am optimistic we will do that in the period to come.

Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day visited India in January and met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He later said the two countries were close to signing the nuclear agreement.

I am not sure what he said at that time, but I can tell you that we certainly were not close to signing (the agreement) then.  We have narrowed it down to a pretty small number of issues.  I am convinced after my chat with Prime Minister Singh that we can close our differences soon.

Does the recent arrest of Pakistani-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Husssain Rana (By the Federal Bureau of Investigation) indicate that Canada is soft on terrorism?

On the Canadian side, there are suggestions that India is soft on security.  Both countries have a misperception of the other.  These date back to the 1970s.  I think both the governments have gotten well beyond those kinds of misapprehensions.  Clearly, they still exist within some elements of the population, but they are very inaccurate.

Canada and India not only share common values, we face common threats in this world and I think there's increasing impetus on India and Western powers to cooperate very closely in  this area. 

If you look at the last United States administration, President George W Bush and Prime Minister Singh decided to essentially reach out, bridge their differences and cooperate much more closely in security matters. I think it is a historic change and it will have implications for the world and obviously Canada-India security relations will be a part of that.

Canada voted in favour of a waiver in the Nuclear Supplier's Group and yet it hasn't concluded a nuclear treaty with India.

Realistically, I will say there's no concern on the part of the Canadian government in signing the nuclear agreement. There may be some (concern) of the Opposition but not in the government.  

Image: Canadian PM Stephen Harper at the Swaminarayan Temple in New Delhi | Photograph: Ajit Jain