By IANS
New Delhi : French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrives here on a four-day visit Thursday that will firm up the agenda for President Nicolas Sarkozy’s maiden trip to India in January next year.
Despite domestic politics shadowing the India-US civil nuclear deal, India and France, a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) member and a supporter of the pact, will discuss the possibilities of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet Kouchner Thursday and discuss a host of bilateral and international issues, including enhancing business ties, civil nuclear cooperation and cooperation in tackling global challenges, global warming, public health and the fight against emerging diseases.
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, an official source said.
Mukherjee will explain to Kouchner domestic political difficulties hobbling the nuclear deal and tell him about the status of the Indian government’s negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for a safeguards pact, a key step for operationalising the nuclear deal, an official source said.
India and France can, however, move ahead with civil nuclear cooperation only after India completes the IAEA pact and the 45-nation NSG amends its rules in favour of global nuclear commerce with New Delhi.
Kouchner will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday and discuss with him a host of issues that will animate Sarkozy’s visit to India in January.
He is also likely to call on Congress president and the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chief Sonia Gandhi.
During his visit, 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 participate in a debate with Indian NGOs on the theme of “International Solidarity for Health”.
Minister of Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes, who is also chairman of the Parliamentary Forum on AIDS, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, will also be present at the seminar.
Kouchner will also visit Agra, the external affairs ministry said here Wednesday while announcing his visit.
Sarkozy is likely to come here Jan 24 and will be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade – an honour bestowed on the leaders of those countries with which India shares special ties.
Sarkozy’s visit will send a clear signal that the slowing of the nuclear deal, which was expected to bring in billions of dollars for the French nuclear industry, will not affect the resolve of the two countries to add more weight and substance to their burgeoning ties.
France is a world leader in civilian nuclear technology and depends on nuclear power for 83 percent of its energy requirements.