By IANS
New Delhi : Greece has “no objection” to the Nuclear Suppliers Group allowing nuclear commerce with India if it meets international standards and concludes an agreement with the IAEA, Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said Friday.
The Greek leader said here that while Greece, an NSG member, did not use nuclear power, it was not opposed to the proposal to remove India from the exemption list.
Kostas Karamanlis, who arrived Thursday on a three-day state visit here, was speaking at a press conference held jointly with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India has had three rounds of talks with the IAEA so far to finalise the text of a safeguards agreement, which has to be put before the United Progressive Alliance-Left joint committee for approval. If the committee clears it, only then would the agreement be inked.
The IAEA agreement is a requirement for the NSG to take a decision by consensus whether India should be exempted from its rules for banning nuclear commerce with countries which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Further, it is also necessary for the US Congress to give its nod for the bilateral 123 agreement with US for cooperation in civilian nuclear industry.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India supported the re-unification of Cyprus.
Both India and Greece have decided to set a target of one billion dollars for economic trade, which was first announced during former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s visit to Greece in February 2007.
Already, Indian exports to Greece amount to about $670 million, while imports from Greece are worth $209 million.
Earlier, both the prime ministers held bilateral discussions in the evening – delegation level and one-to-one.
Addressing the business leaders in the afternoon, the Greek prime minister said that several agreements have been signed, including those for the protection and advancement of investments, and on scientific and technological cooperation.
He said the two sides were working on a double taxation avoidance treaty, as well as for co-operation in air transport. “The target of doubling bilateral trade by 2010 was both feasible and viable,” he said.
Earlier Friday, he called on President Pratibha Patil and held discussions with Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. A dinner banquet was hosted in his honour by the prime minister at Hyderabad House.
Karamanlis leaves Saturday to visit Agra and Jaipur, before returning to Athens.