By Manish Chand, IANS
New Delhi : Domestic politics dogging the India-US civil nuclear deal will not prevent the Indian government from engaging France, a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) member and a supporter of the pact, when French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner comes here next week.
Kouchner will begin his two-day maiden visit to India Thursday next week. His visit will focus on firming up the agenda for the forthcoming visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in January next year, an official source told IANS.
Sarkozy’s forthcoming visit will send a clear signal that France is keen to add more weight and substance to its burgeoning ties with India regardless of the future of the nuclear deal, the source added.
Kouchner, a popular politician in France known as the rock star of humanitarian relief and a co-founder of the Nobel prize-winning Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), will also go to Kolkata.
Kouchner will meet his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee and discuss with him a broad array of bilateral and global issues, including the nuclear deal and climate change – a pet subject with the French leader.
The meeting will help Mukherjee to explain the domestic pulls and pressures clogging the path of the nuclear deal of which France has been an enthusiastic supporter since India and the US struck the landmark deal, aimed at reopening doors of global civil nuclear commerce for India, over two years ago.
France, a world leader in civilian nuclear technology which depends on nuclear power for 83 percent of its energy requirements, will be keen to know the progress of the deal which promises to bring in billions of dollars in business to its nuclear industry.
Mukherjee may also seek France’s help in persuading some sceptical members of the 27-nation European Union, like the Scandinavian countries, to back the nuclear deal.
The India-EU summit ended here late last month without a breakthrough on this key issue with the EU leaders saying the grouping does not have a common position on the India-US civil nuclear deal and it would be up to individual countries to decide their stand.
Kouchner comes at a time when the government has begun negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a key step for operationalising the nuclear deal, but continues to face opposition from its leftist allies who have renewed their threat to block the deal.
France is the only country to have not condemned the Indian nuclear tests in 1998 and has backed New Delhi’s claim to a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council, which underlines its appreciation of India’s emergence as a major player on the global stage.
Burgeoning business and defence ties will also be in focus with both sides fleshing out a substantial agenda for Sarkozy’s visit to India.
Sarkozy is likely to come here Jan 24 and will be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade – a signal honour bestowed on the leaders of those countries with which India shares special ties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade this year.