..:: India Strategic ::. Top: Year End Review: Civil Nuclear Cooperation

British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns | Theresa May takes over as new UK PM | May becomes second British woman PM after Margaret Thatcher | Cameron announced resignation following Brexit, a referendum for UK's exit from EU June 23 | International Tribunal demolishes China's claims over South China Sea | Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague says China has no legal basis to claim regional waters and build islets | The Tribunal also held China guilty of damaging coral reefs and natural environment | China has border maritime problems with all its neighbours | China rejected the decision, saying it is invalid and has no binding force | India, Tanzania agree to deepen overall defence and security partnership, especially in the maritime domain | Both nations agreed to work closely, bilaterally, regionally and globally to combat twin threats of terrorism, climate change | Prime Minister visiting Tanzania in the last leg of his visit to 4 African nations July 7-11 | Boeing, Mahindra Defence open C-17 Training Centre for IAF | Terrorism is the gravest security threat facing the world today, says PM Modi during Mozambique visit | Terrorism impacts India and Mozambique equally | NASA spacecraft Juno reaches Jupiter | Juno crossed violent radiation and flew 130,000 miles/hour | Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system | Juno should be in Jpiter orbit for 20 months to send data | The $1.1 billion Juno mission took five years to reach Jupiter | LCA 'Tejas' joins Indian Air Force | Tejas is an indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft | The single-seat, single-engine, multi-role light fighter is designed by ADA and manufactured by HAL | India test-fires new surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Balasore off Odisha coast | The new missile is jointly developed by India and Israel | Abdul Majeed Al Khoori appointed Acting CEO of the Abu Dhabi Airports | Eng. Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei becomes Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Airports Chairman | Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar hands over 'Varunastra' to Indian Navy | Varunastra is an advanced heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo | It is indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by DRDO | India officially joins Missile Technology Control Regime | With this India becomes 35th member of the MTCR | Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar signed the document of accession into MTCR in Seoul June 27 | The document was signed in presence of Ambassadors of France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - the Chair and two co-chairs of the Regime | India had applied for the membership in 2015 | India finalises deal for 145 BAE Systems M777 artillery guns | This is Indian Army's first artillery deal in 30 years | Britain votes to leave EU, Pound crashes | 52 per cent voted Leave and 48 Remain in historic referendum | British Prime Minister David Cameron announces to resign before October over UK's exit | Leave process will take about two years though | Markets hit worldwide, including in India | China scuttles India's NSG bid | India joins SCO | India, apart from Pakistan, was admitted as full member of SCO during its Ufa Summit in July 2015 | After completing certain procedures, India now technically entered into SCO | India had an observer status for past 10 years prior to entering into six member regional bloc | No consensus on India's membership in NSG | China and five other countries oppose India's entry as New Delhi has not signed NPT | China insists Pakistan must also enter NSG if India's application is accepted | Pakistan is China's only military ally and is also known as a nuclear, missile and terror proliferator (NMTP) | Indian Space Agency ISRO successfully launches 20 satellites in one rocket | This is the biggest launch in ISRO's history | The satellites were launched onboard PSLV C-34 from SDSC (SHAR) Sriharikota | PSLV C-34 was carrying 17 satellites from US, Canada, Germany, Indonesia and 3 from India | Government of India approves 100% FDI in defence and civil aviation sectors | In defence, foreign investment beyond 49% (and up to 100%) permitted through the government approval route | This is in cases of access to modern technology in the country | For aviation, the government allowed 100% FDI in India-based airlines | The decision on FDI reforms taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi | India confident of getting into NSG, says External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj | India is working with China to win support | India will not oppose any country's membership proposal, EAM told a news conference |

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Editorial

Year End Review: Civil Nuclear Cooperation - A Year of Significant Achievements

Published: January 2016

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, 2015 has seen major achievements in the field of civil nuclear cooperation.

The implementation of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the U.S. was put back on course when Prime Minister hosted President Obama in New Delhi on January 25-27, 2015. Since then, the Administrative Arrangement for implementing the agreement has been signed and the India Nuclear Insurance Pool set up to implement the understanding on civil nuclear liability, which has addressed international and domestic concerns on India’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010. Commercial negotiations between NPCIL and Westinghouse for construction of six units of the AP-1000 reactor at Mithi Virdi, Gujarat are on course for finalization in 2016.

Civil nuclear cooperation with Russia and France has also been taken forward during the year. During Prime Minister’s visit to France in April 2015, a MoU between M/s Larsen and Toubro and M/s Areva aimed at cost reduction by increasing localization for the Jaitapur project in Maharashtra was signed. On December 22, 2015, during Prime Minister’s visit to Russia, a Joint Programme of Action for Localization of Manufacturing in India for Russian-designed Nuclear Power Plants was signed. A minimum of 12 reactor units will be built with Russian collaboration.

Following the signing of a contract for long-term supply of uranium during Prime Minister’s visit to Canada in April 2015, the first consignment of uranium reached India in December 2015. Likewise, a long term contract for purchase of uranium was signed during Prime Minister’s visit to Kazakhstan in July 2015.

In a major development, a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia was brought into force on November 13, 2015 along with the Administrative Arrangement for implementing the Agreement. The fuel supply arrangements with Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia will bolster energy security by supporting the expansion of nuclear power in India.

The reaching of agreement on a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Japan during Prime Minister Abe’s visit to India on December 12, 2015 brought to a close five years of negotiation on this issue. This path breaking development was made possible by strong engagement at the level of leaders.

In combination with initiatives taken at home, in particular the passage through the Parliament of the amendment to the Atomic Energy Act for enabling NPCIL to enter into joint ventures with other PSUs, these agreements have laid a solid foundation for the expansion of nuclear energy in India. A promising area has at last been energized for implementation.