Russia, India edge closer to major nuclear deal

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Reuters

Posted online: Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 04:41:15
Updated: Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 04:59:31

New Delhi, February 12: Russia and India on Tuesday edged closer to a multi-billion dollar nuclear deal to build four more reactors that has been delayed because of international restrictions against New Delhi.

The two states have been working for more than a year on a deal that will allow Russia build the reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

"An agreement on building additional reactors at the Kudankulam atomic station has been initialised," Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said in New Delhi.

Zhukov said the initialisation -- which means officials signed a preliminary deal -- had taken place just before a visit to India by Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.

The deal cannot be finalised because of restrictions on India imposed by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the limits are unlikely to be lifted until a US-India deal on civilian nuclear cooperation is ratified.

Russia is competing with the United States for influence in India, a Cold War ally of Moscow which the Kremlin sees as a growing partner in Asia.

Russia is building two 1,000 megawatt reactors at Kudankulam as part of a deal signed in 1988. Russia agreed in January that it intended to build four more reactors at the site.

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nUCLEAR by g gIDWANI on 13 Feb 2008

INDIA SHOULD ONLY SIGN THE AGREEMENT IF THE RUSSIANS AGREE TO DELIVER THE URANIUM NEEDED TO RUN THE PLANTS REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE NSG SAYS. THE NSG MUST RECOGNIZE INDIA AS A NUCLEAR POWER WITH ALL RIGHTS TO NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AS THE OTHER NUCLEAR POWERS.

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Russian military equipments by XpressMyself on 13 Feb 2008

Over the years most of the defense fighters/equipements are from Russia (Mig 21 etc). It is time the deal-makers assess the real effectiveness vis-a-vis the no. of lives lost using Russian technology. Hope the jawan's life will have some value in the eyes of our leaders and burocrats in New Delhi. Get the best even if the nation have to pay a bit more.

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India must not get desperate by DILIP/FRANCE on 12 Feb 2008

India is ill adviced to move down this road map.Russian Technology is Like Chinese Tech,10 years out of date and has scrap value. Instead concentrate on ratifying the Nuclear Agreement Treaty and then tie up with Areva of France, which has the best Nuclear Technology, right now in the World.Safe,clean,environmentally friendly,efficient and cost effective.

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