From the dependable to the demanding partner: the renegotiation of French nuclear cooperation with India, 1974–80

Sarkar, J. (2021) From the dependable to the demanding partner: the renegotiation of French nuclear cooperation with India, 1974–80. Cold War History, 21(3), pp. 301-318. (doi: 10.1080/14682745.2019.1694908)

Abstract

This article examines the shift in French nuclear export policy during 1974–80 leading to renegotiation of bilateral contracts between India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and France’s Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA). This reassessment of French-Indian nuclear partnership by Giscard d’Estaing’s government initially resulted from its concerns that France might be implicated in India’s 1974 nuclear explosion. Neither country had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the CEA and DAE were long-time technology partners, and both opposed multilateral safeguards. The French reassessment later received a major thrust from improved US-French bilateral relations, and French participation in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sarkar, Dr Jay
• Authors: Sarkar, J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Journal Name: Cold War History
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1468-2745
• ISSN (Online): 1743-7962
• Published Online: 12 January 2020