India, Kazakhstan sign nuclear pact

May 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Business ties between India and Kazakhstan are set to receive a further fillip with captains and representatives of Indian industry taking part in three international business expos in Astana and Almaty. According to sources in the Embassy of Kazakhstan, at least 70 to 80 Indian companies are taking part in the India Expo in Almaty, which began today and will end on May 23.

May 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - More than eight months after the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granted waiver to New Delhi allowing the resumption of global nuclear commerce, India Monday held talks with an NSG troika comprising Germany, South Africa and Hungary. The Indian delegation, led by Vivek Katju, special secretary (Political and International Organizations), in the external affairs ministry, held talks with the NSG team led by representative of its current chair, Viktor Elbling of Germany.

April 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Welcoming US' pledge to cut its nuclear arsenals, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said Iran too has full rights to the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Nazarbayev welcomed the statement by US President Barack Obama seeking a world without nuclear weapons and that Washington was ready for a dialogue with Iran based on mutual interests and mutual respect, according to a statement by the Kazakh embassy here Thursday.

March 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Kazakhstan will sign an exploration and production agreement for the the Satpayev oil block on the Caspian Sea before the new domestic Kazakh law on reviewing contracts of foreign companies comes into force, it was announced here Friday. This was decided at the seventh meeting of the two-day India-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific, technological, industrial and cultural cooperation that ended in Astana Friday, a government release said.

February 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A month after India entered into a nuclear pact with Russia, leading Russian nuclear company TVEL Wednesday signed a deal to supply uranium to Indian nuclear plants. Russia's state-owned nuclear company Atomenergoprom said that its unit, TVEL, and Indian officials had signed the latest deal under which 'the total cost of contracts is more than $700 million'.

February 10th, 2009 MUMBAI - Taking their nuclear cooperation to another level, Russia's leading nuclear company TVEL and India's Department of Atomic Energy Wednesday signed two contracts for supplying uranium for Indian nuclear reactors. The Department of Atomic Energy and TVEL, a joint stock company of the Russian Federation, have signed a contract for the long-term supply of 2,000 tonnes of natural uranium pellets for India's pressurised heavy water reactors, the DAE said in a statement here.

February 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and France are set to start a new chapter in civilian nuclear cooperation when French nuclear giant Areva signs a pact with India's nuclear monopoly NPCIL Wednesday for the import of new generation EPR-type nuclear reactors. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Areva will be inked here in the presence of French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will sign a unique safeguards agreement with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) later Monday - a key step that will enable the resumption of global civil nuclear commerce with New Delhi. India's Ambassador to Vienna Saurabh Kumar and IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei will ink the India-specific safeguards agreement in Vienna later in the day.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI/VIENNA - India Monday inked an inspection agreement with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - a step that will enable India to access global civil nuclear equipment and fuel. India's Ambassador to Vienna Saurabh Kumar and IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei inked the India-specific safeguards agreement at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

January 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Central Asian republic Kazakhstan Saturday became the fourth nation after the US, France and Russia to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is on a four-day visit to the country ahead of India's Republic Day parade where he is the chief guest, was present at the delegation-level talks between the two countries here, along with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and President Pratibha Patil.

January 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee stepped in for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to receive the Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev at a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan Saturday morning. Manmohan Singh was undergoing a bypass surgery in a Delhi hospital and will take a few weeks to recover.

January 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - President Pratibha Devisinh Patil Saturday described Kazakhstan as India's 'valuable partner' in its fight against terrorism, while thanking the Central Asian nation for its strong condemnation of the Mumbai mayhem. 'We regard Kazakhstan as a valuable partner in this fight against terrorism,' Patil said in her speech at a banquet in honour of Kazakhstan President Noorsultan Nazarbayev, who will attend the Republic Day Parade here Jan 26 as the chief guest.

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived here Friday night on a four-day visit during which India and the energy-rich Central Asian country are expected to sign a civil nuclear agreement and a slew of economic pacts. The Kazakh president will be India's guest of honour at the Republic Day parade.

January 15th, 2009 MUMBAI - Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has signed an agreement with the US-based Westinghouse Electric to build nuclear power reactors, the company said Friday. In a regulatory statement, L&T said the pact would enable the two companies 'utilise indigenous capabilities for the turnkey construction of nuclear power plants including supply of reactor equipment and systems.' Westinghouse technology is in use in over 40 percent of operating nuclear power plants globally, the statement added.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Kazakhstan are set to invigorate their ties when they sign a nuclear pact and other economic agreements during the four-day visit of the energy-rich Central Asian country's President Nursultan Nazarbayev that begins Jan 23. 'The visit will further consolidate and provide fresh impetus to the bilateral relations,' the external affairs ministry said here Wednesday while announcing his visit.