India, Russia and Bangladesh sign tripartite MoU for civil nuclear cooperation

For the first time, India has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign partners — Russia & Bangladesh — for civil nuclear cooperation. The MoU will be helpful for cooperation in construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna, Bangladesh. This will be first ever nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. It was signed in Moscow by deputy director general of Rosatom (Russia’s Alex civil nuclear body) Nikolay Spassky, ambassador of Bangladesh in Russia SM Saiful Hoque and Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran.

The Rooppur project is the first initiative under an Indo-Russian deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries. This will also be the first time Indian companies will be able to participate in a nuclear power project abroad. India is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and hence cannot participate directly in construction of atomic power reactors. The Nuclear Power Cooperation of India Limited (NPCIL) will play a key role in building a nuclear power plant on foreign soil with the proposed supply of equipment and material for the power station being built by Russia in Bangladesh.