India and Vietnam likely to sign civil nuclear pact

Why in news?

• India is likely to seal a landmark civil nuclear pact with Vietnam this week during the visit of the President of Vietnam’s National Assembly.
• It is the first such partnership with a neighbour of China.

What are the provisons of the deal?

• During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Hanoi in early September the two sides also agreed to accelerate the negotiation process for a new Inter-Governmental Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.
• India has been helping Vietnam’s civil nuclear sector since signing the first agreement in 1986, besides supplying a research reactor and training a few scientists under the International Atomic Energy Agency programme.
• The current agreement in the field of civil nuclear cooperation will entail
  • Capacity building and training of Vietnamese nuclear scientists by India
  • Assistance to improve safeguard measures of nuclear installations in the Southeast Asian country.
• Sri Lanka is the only other developing country with which India has signed a civil nuclear pact.
• Vietnam currently has bilateral civil nuclear pacts with Russia and Japan, a fact that will complement Indo-Vietnamese partnership. While Russia has wide-ranging presence in India’s civil nuclear sector, India and Japan concluded a civil nuclear pact last month.

What else will be addressed in the visit?

• The visit of President of Vietnam’s National Assembly, third highest ranking leader of Vietnam, will push comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
• The National Assembly President will be accompanied by a big business delegation to push economic and investment ties.
• The visit will also provide a fillip to parliamentary cooperation through exchanges between leaders of parliaments, committees, parliamentary friendship groups and parliamentarians of two countries.