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Canada offers a nuclear handshake to Vajpayee

Canadian Revenue Minister Herb Dhaliwal says his country will consider reviving co-operation with India to set up nuclear power generation projects if the new government in New Delhi desired so.

In an informal chat with United News of India, Dhaliwal, who is accompanying Governor General Romeo Leblanc, said he would definitely take up the issue if it was broached during his meetings with Indian ministers.

Dhaliwal, a Canadian national of Indian origin, said he would meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Union Energy Minister P R Kumaramangalam in New Delhi and discuss matters of co-operation, including joint venture in setting up hydroelectric and thermal power projects.

He said if there was a representation made from the Indian government on nuclear power plants, ''I will be only too happy to take it back to my government and convey the outcome of talks with the appropriate minister.''

He said his country would be ready to extend assistance in the field to any country which complied with the Canadian policy on use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes with guarantee of environmental safety.

Replying to a question he said Canada did not suspect the safety standards of nuclear power operations in India. But safety aspect is of paramount importance under its policy.

"(If India is willing to sign an agreement which met) our regulations on peaceful use and environmental safety standards, I think we should consider reviving cooperation in the field,'' he said.

Dhaliwal said Canada had recently signed a contract worth millions of dollars with China for supplying nuclear reactors after that country signed the appropriate agreement.

Canada terminated its assistance to India in the construction of nuclear power plants soon after the peaceful implosion conducted at Pokhran in 1974. It had supplied two reactors of 220 megawats each for the first and second units of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant in 1972. It abruptly withdrew halfway through the construction in wake of the implosion.

The situation, however, seems to have eased now with the change in the Canadian perception. There are very good chances of a revival of cooperation between the two countries, according to independent observers.

Presently, the Indo-Canadian cooperation is confined only to published information exchange relevant to operational safety and reliability as India is a member of the CANDU-owners group. But there is no technological co-operation of any kind as Canada is apparently under tremendous pressure from its neighbouring super power country, the United States.

Dhaliwal said Canadian businessmen and captains of industry saw great potential for increased investment in India.

The members of his delegation would explore the possibilities of further joint venture investment in the sectors of power generation, telecommunication, electronics, information technology and infrastructure projects including roads, ports and airports, he said.

He said the two-way trade between the two countries had already crossed billion dollars in the last couple of years. There was tremendous opportunities for joint venture collaboration in the fields of optic fibre, agro-based industries, financial services, and mining.

All what the Canadian investors looked for is transparency, consistency and level-playing, he said.

India should open its doors for free trade as Canada did with North America. "It needs investment for economic development," he said.

The minister said Canada was looking forward to importing software technology from India.

UNI

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