The Indo-French civilian nuclear cooperation is back on the skids. With roughly a week to go before President Jacque Chirac's visit to India, it seems the "strategic partnership" (partenariat stratégique) has hit a few roadblocks over the terms of the agreement in the field of civilian nuclear power cooperation between the two countries. The disagreement in this case being over the issue of compromises being expected of India, vis-à-vis the separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities.

France and India have had a long history of cooperation in the nuclear field. It is a history that stretches back to 1949, with a joint agreement between Indian Rare Earth (now, Indian Rare Earth Limited [IREL]) and the French entities Societe de Produits Chimique and Banque Marocaine de Credit, to construct a facility at Alwaye (Kerala) to extract thorium from monazite sand. This was followed by the signing of the first international agreement by the Commisssariat de l' Energie Atomique (CEA, i.e., the French Atomic Energy Commission) with India, thereby facilitating the exchange of a number of India's nuclear scientists with the French nuclear establishment, the likes of whom include Dr. Raja Ramanna, Dr. Homi Sethna and Dr. P.K. Iyengar whose names have since become synonymous with India's own nuclear establishment.

During the late 1960s the French were instrumental in helping India set up a heavy water production facility at Baroda and subsequently during the period 1978-1979, they were also instrumental in facilitating the construction of the fast breeder test reactor at Kalpakkam, near Chennai, modeled after their very first fast breeder reactor, (FBR) Rhapsodie. A point to note here is that this cooperation over the FBR followed inspite of India's nuclear tests in 1974; the French as opposed to prevailing near unanimous world opinion at that time were the only ones who congratulated India on its peaceful nuclear explosion. This show of support was to be repeated again following India's nuclear tests in May, 1998.

As per a November 1982, Indo-French Agreement on Enriched Uranium, the French until 1992 were responsible for supplying enriched uranium fuel for the Tarapur Atomic Power Station but this supply stopped following France's official accession to the Non Proliferation Treaty in 1992, 24 years after it was first opened for signature. As a result, France now insisted on full scope safeguards as a condition for supplying nuclear fuel. Contrary to the prevailing U.S. opinion at that time the French took a more pragmatic approach, one of engagement to persuade India to accept full scope safeguards and place all its nuclear facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Association. However, this was not to be and there followed a period of status quo until 1998.

The visit in January 1998, of President Jacque Chirac, accompanied by a high level delegation that included the CEO of Framatome, part of the French consortium Areva, specializing in the design and construction of nuclear power plants, was to form the basis of a "structured dialogue" that included cooperation in civilian nuclear energy. This "structured dialogue" was to result in a "strategic dialogue" following Prime Minister Vajpayee's visit to France in September 1998. The principal logic of the dialogue then as now, was to arrive at a formulation which would facilitate the cooperation in the realm of civilian nuclear power that included the transfer of nuclear know-how along with advanced civilian nuclear technology.

Commencing with the discussions during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's stopover in France in September 2005 that touched upon the various elements of the strategic dialogue, including the cooperation in the civilian nuclear energy field , it is interesting to note the parallels between the dialogue as it is taking place in 2005-2006 with that in 1998. President Jacque Chirac is due to arrive in New Delhi on February 19, accompanied by a high level delegation including, as before, officials from the French Atomic Energy Commission, as well as, apparently more substantive goodies in the bag when compared to 1998. France has for the first time agreed to bring to the table, Pressurized Water Reactors, (PWRs) something that Dr. Vikram Sarabhai tried to persuade the French to export to India beginning in the early 1970s.

Yes, it is true that while there are significant roadblocks even this time around, i.e. vis-à-vis the separation of the civilian and military nuclear facilities and the insistence on full scope safeguards, what is different is that for the first time since the inception of the NPT there is clear unanimity in the stance of the United States, the United Kingdom and France towards India. All three see India as a responsible nuclear power, well advanced in nuclear technology and each supports an Indian exception to NSG rules, and they remain convinced of persuading the other 41 members of the NSG, should India agree to undertake such a step. India does have a long history of cooperation with France in the nuclear sphere and clearly has a lot to gain from French cooperation in the development of a civilian nuclear power sector in India; France does after all, derive roughly 77 per cent of electricity needs from nuclear power. The odds are clearly in our favor if we play our cards smart. That means taking our time to weigh the pros and cons and looking to the future but with our eyes focused on the prize.