Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 summit on Tuesday. Canada’s intelligence service warns in a new report that the country remains a source of foreign interference. PHOTO: THE CANADIAN PRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday expressed concern over a long-term uranium supply agreement and nuclear cooperation agreement struck between India and Canada during the recent visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to New Delhi, warning that such country-specific arrangements risk undermining the global nuclear non-proliferation framework and destabilizing the strategic balance in South Asia.
The agreement, which includes long-term uranium supply and cooperation on advanced nuclear technologies, was announced after talks between Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the two sides moved to restore ties and expand economic cooperation.
The agreement is part of a broader push to strengthen bilateral trade and energy cooperation, including cooperation on small modular reactors and advanced nuclear technologies.
The uranium supply arrangement, reportedly worth about $2.6 billion, will allow Canadian companies to supply nuclear fuel to support India’s civilian nuclear energy program as New Delhi expands its nuclear power capacity.
Reacting to the development, the State Department said the arrangement represented another exemption in civil nuclear cooperation granted to India despite long-standing concerns about its nuclear program.
“Pakistan has noted with concern the long-term uranium supply agreement entered into between Canada and India and potential cooperation on small modular reactors and advanced reactor technologies between the two sides,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said in a statement.
“This arrangement represents yet another country-specific exception in civil nuclear cooperation. It is particularly ironic given that India’s 1974 nuclear test, conducted with plutonium produced in a reactor supplied by Canada for peaceful purposes, had led directly to the establishment of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” he added.
The spokesman said that a state whose actions necessitated the establishment of global export controls now gets preferential access under selective arrangements.
“India has neither placed all of its civilian nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards nor made any binding commitment to do so under this arrangement. Several facilities remain outside international inspection. It is also unclear what concrete non-proliferation assurances, if any, accompany this agreement.”
Andrabi further said that the strategic implications were equally worrying.
“Secured external uranium supplies effectively release India’s domestic reserves for military use, enabling the expansion of its stockpiles of fissile material, accelerating the growth of its nuclear arsenal, and deepening existing asymmetries in South Asia’s strategic balance.”
“In this context, the arrangement also undermines Canada’s commitment to the international non-proliferation regime and its corresponding obligations under that framework,” according to the spokesperson.
Pakistan reiterated that civil nuclear cooperation must be governed by a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach that applies equally to states that are not parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Selective exemptions diminish the credibility of the global non-proliferation framework and risk further destabilizing regional and global peace and security.”
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, where the two sides discussed bilateral relations and ways to further strengthen economic cooperation.
Although official reading would not say, the issue of the Canada-India nuclear deal came up during the telephone conversation.
According to the State Department, the two leaders explored opportunities to expand cooperation across several sectors, including agriculture, clean energy and critical minerals, while stressing the importance of strengthening people-to-people ties between Pakistan and Canada. Anand also appreciated the contribution of the Pakistani diaspora in Canada.
“Both sides emphasized the importance of sustained high-level exchanges to maintain the positive trajectory of bilateral engagement,” the statement said.
The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on regional development developments, with Dar stressing the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and adherence to international law to promote de-escalation and stability in the Middle East and the wider region.
Pakistan has long opposed selective nuclear cooperation agreements with India, arguing that civil nuclear cooperation should be based on a uniform, criteria-based framework applicable to all non-NPT states and consistent with the principles of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
