Modi’s Trip to France, Germany, and Canada Puts Industrialization and Nuclear Power on Top of Agenda

Available reports indicate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming seven-day visit (France, April 9-11; Germany, April 12-13; Canada, April 14-16) to three nations will have his “Make in India” campaign and the nuclear power generation at the top of his agenda. On Tuesday, French Ambassador to India François Richier, in an interaction with media in New Delhi, said: “We agree with the prime minister’s stand on nuclear energy and climate change. We share [the view] that nuclear energy is essential part of fighting climate change,” The Hindu Business Line reported.

During his stay in France, where Modi plans to complete a six-reactor deal (six 1650-MW reactors) with Areva, he will discuss with President François Hollande investment opportunities in India as well as civil nuclear cooperation. The other item under discussion in France will be the satellite with electronic intelligence systems (ELINT) package which could help India boost its strategic capabilities. Modi will also visit some industrial units outside Paris.

In Germany, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate the Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial trade fair, where Modi is expected to interact with top German executives and present India as a manufacturing hub through his “Make in India” campaign. Moreover, Modi is expected to focus on discussing existing and prospective bilateral cooperation in green energy, infrastructure, affordable housing, and the Clean Ganga initiative. Modi will be accompanied by a large Indian government and business delegation representing some 400 Indian companies.

One Indian security analyst, Bharat Karnad, in his website on April 3, urged Modi to ask both France and Germany to help India set up a Mittelstand, Germany’s famous small and medium-size industry, which is historically the driver of its high-technology.

“If, as Modi has tweeted, this trip is centered on boosting the Indian economy and ‘creating jobs’ for the youth, he cannot do better than ask especially the Angela Merkel dispensation in Germany, and secondarily France, to materially assist in establishing the ‘Mittelstand’ here,” wrote Karnad. “Mittelstand is the network of small and medium-sized, often family-owned, engineering enterprises and workshops that prosper by continually producing specialized, high-quality engineering goods, and are the bedrock of the high-technology sectors (aerospace, automobile, etc.) in these countries,” Karnad said.

India’s Financial Express noted on April 6 that Modi’s visit may also see a much-awaited commercial nuclear fuel agreement getting signed, paving the way for Canada to supply uranium to India. “We look forward to resuming our civil nuclear energy cooperation with Canada, especially for sourcing uranium fuel for our nuclear power plants,” Modi had posted on Facebook. The two countries are expected to announce joint research and development in the field of nuclear energy, focusing on enhancing the size of pressurized heavy water reactors to be built in India. While the largest of India’s variation of the CANDU could produce 700 MW, Canada’s Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000) is an evolutionary, Generation III+, 1200 MW heavy water reactor.