Ajay Kaul

Astana (Kazakhstan), Apr 16 (PTI) Cementing their strategic partnership, India and Kazakhstan today signed an inter-governmental framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and some other key pacts, including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The pacts were inked following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev here.

The inter-governmental framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation signed between the two countries will broad-base the cooperation and is expected to cover aspects like research, technology transfer and exploration of uranium in Kazakhstan, which is known to have one of the richest reserves of the nuclear fuel that India needs in increasing quantity.

India and Kazakhstan already have civil nuclear cooperation since January 2009 when Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Kazakh nuclear company KazAtomProm signed an MoU during the visit of Nazarbaev to Delhi.