New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) India and Canada Tuesday signed an agreement to boost energy security and another accord for launching negotiations for a free trade area between them, but could not clinch a civil nuclear deal as details were still to be sorted out.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a range of bilateral issues, including trade and investment, civil nuclear cooperation, the global financial crisis, terrorism and climate change.

Two pacts were signed after wide-ranging talks.

The pact on energy is aimed at accelerating cooperation in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, oil and natural gas, power generation, transmission, distribution and end-use, energy research and development.

Another accord mandated the setting up of a joint study group to explore the possibility of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Canada. The joint study group will hold the first meeting in the first half of December, with the aim of concluding the study within six months.

The two sides focused on a wide array of steps, including creating a broad institutional framework, aimed at tripling bilateral trade from around $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years.

The India-Canada CEOs Forum has recommended the creation of a free trade area between the two countries.

“The two governments welcomed ongoing efforts to strengthen the institutional framework for bilateral relations, including working towards concluding negotiations on the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, the Social Security Agreement, and the civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement,” the joint statement said.

But a civil nuclear agreement, which was speculated to be the showpiece of Harper’s visit to India, did not materialize as some finer details remained to be sorted out.

The deal may now be signed when Manmohan Singh goes to Canada to attend the G20 summit in June next year where he will also hold bilateral talks with the Canadian leader on the sidelines. The nuclear agreement promised to transform bilateral relations that turned frosty when Ottawa cut off atomic trade after New Delhi’s 1974 nuclear test.

Addressing a joint press conference, Manmohan Singh and Harper said they were hopeful of beginning civil nuclear cooperation soon.

Expanding counter-terror cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan figured prominently in the talks. Harper strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 and expressed the hope that those behind the attacks would be swiftly brought to justice.

Harper also assured Manmohan Singh that Canada stood firmly with India in dealing with global terrorism. The two leaders called for an early conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism within the UN framework, said the joint statement.