NEW DELHI, Jan 25: The leaders of India and France agreed here on Friday to forge closer strategic ties but decided to wait for the IAEA to signal its approval before going ahead with their proposed civil nuclear cooperation, official sources said.

The announcement came following talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is here as the chief guest at Saturday’s Republic Day parade.

Tight security has been clamped on the Indian capital ahead of the parade. Mr Sarkozy will watch India’s defence arsenal on show to which France was the second largest contributor behind Russia before being replaced by Israel recently.

“In the area of defence cooperation, we have agreed to go beyond a buyer-seller relationship,” Dr Singh told reporters after the talks. “We will increasingly focus on joint R&D projects, transfer of technology, and greater military exchanges.”

“We have agreed to consolidate our multi-faceted cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, technology transfer, space, defence, civil nuclear energy, culture and education,” Dr Singh added. “The initiatives that we have taken reflect our mutual strengths and the growing potential of our countries to contribute to each other’s development and national priorities.”

A joint statement said France and India have decided to give a new impetus to their cooperation for the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as an expression of their strategic partnership. “As responsible states with advanced nuclear technologies, including in the nuclear fuel cycle, France and India are interested to promote nuclear energy with the highest standards of safety and security and in accordance with their respective nuclear policies and international obligations,” the statement said.

It said the two countries share common concerns and objectives in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery including possible linkages to terrorism.

“In this regard, France appreciates India’s longstanding and continuing contributions to international non-proliferation.”

Friday’s agreement came amid reports from Washington that the surprise retirement of Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who played a seminal role in finalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will take “some of the focus away” from the accord.

However, his continuation as special envoy will help in its early conclusion, Press Trust of India said quoting experts. “The encouraging thing is that Nick Burns is not leaving that portfolio... He will continue to be an envoy on his issue. That is very important and I think he can bring it to a successful conclusion as soon as possible,” Former Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth told PTI.