New Delhi’s ties with Paris, warming up after Indian Airlines opted for 43 Airbus aircraft, received another boost today with India announcing it would purchase six Scorpene submarines at a cost of three billion US dollars and France pledging full cooperation in India’s civilian nuclear programme, a step that could ultimately lead to the supply of French reactors and fuel. At the end of wide-ranging talks here between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Jacques Chirac, it was announced that France, like the US and Britain, would work with other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to dismantle restrictions on supply of technology and equipment for India’s civilian nuclear programme. ‘‘No stone will be left unturned to ensure that India’s energy needs are met,’’ Chirac told Singh who has now obtained support for the civilian nuclear programmes from three key powers—US, UK and France—since his historic July summit with President George W Bush in Washington. Earlier, Singh, who’s headed out for New York from Paris, told the daily Le Figaro that the US move to lift sanctions on Indian import of nuclear technology had raised possibilities of importing reactors from France for nuclear energy. Singh made it clear that France was eminently qualified to play this role, given its own personal experience.
