India, Canada fail to finalise nuclear deal

Ajit Jain, rediff India Abroad Managing Editor, Canada, who is traveling with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the latter's first-ever visit to India, reports on how Canada is losing out to US, France and Russia due to the delay in signing a nuclear agreement with India.

During his first official visit to India, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper indicated that he would like the two countries to sign the civilian nuclear agreement and the foreign protection promotion and investment agreement.

India and Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and another MoU on Energy Cooperation.

The two MoUs were signed on Tuesday in the presence of Dr Singh and Harper, at the  Hyderabad House, by International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma.

"Our bilateral relations have greatly strengthened since Harper came to power," Dr Singh said after the signing of the MoUs.

Harper told reporters that he had conveyed to Dr Singh that Canada stood firmly with India in dealing with global terrorism. Both leaders reiterated the need for intensifying global cooperation in combating international terrorism. They called for an early conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism within the United Nations framework

However, the visit did not culminate in the two countries signing a civilian nuclear agreement or a free trade deal.

Moreover, Harper's visit to India was almost ignored by the local media. 

Disappointed by the lackluster visit, Canadian journalists accompanying Harper are wondering why the two countries haven't signed the nuclear agreement so far, in spite of discussing such an agreement at length since a long time.

In September, a team of nuclear experts from India visited Ottawa for a series of meetings with their Canadian counterparts.

The Canadian bureaucrats briefed International Trade Minister Day, who in turn told this correspondent, "There are only 3-4 minor issues to be sorted out' before signing the nuclear deal.

India has already signed agreements concerning nuclear material and reactors with the United States, France and Russia. Canada is losing out on such a deal, in spite of repeatedly issuing assurances about a bilateral nuclear agreement being 'a done deal'.

Before meeting Harper, Dr Singh met representatives from a number of Canadian universities, to discuss why fewer Indian students opted for studies in Canada, as compared to other academic destinations such as US and Australia.

Harper also met President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Leader of Opposition L K Advani and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

He also visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat along with his wife Laureen.

On Wednesday, Harper will travel to Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple, with an eye on Sikh voters back home in areas like Brampton, Malton, Vancouver and Surrey.