Impetus to Indo-French ties, N-plant deal in Maharashtra

Injecting a new impetus to their strategic ties, India and France today signed seven agreements, including one for setting up of a nuclear plant in Maharashtra, the first such pact after the end of New Delhi’s isolation in the nuclear field.

A Nuclear Power Plant in India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy also decided to work for doubling bilateral trade to 12 billion Euros by 2012, much of which is expected to be propelled by enhanced cooperation in the fields of civil nuclear energy and civil aviation.

Singh and Sarkozy held extensive talks on a host of issues like enhancement of bilateral ties in a wide range of areas such as defence, counter-terrorism, space, science and technology besides discussing the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.