It was a packed Sunday for prime minister Manmohan Singh that spread over key

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meetings with US President Barack Obama and signing host of agreements with his Ca­nadian counterpart St­ephen Harper.

The nuclear pact signed with Canada on Sunday will give India access to Ottawa’s nuclear power reactors, fuel, technology and spares. This will enable India to fully utilise capacities of Kota nuclear reactors. The two new reactors for Kudankulam nuclear power project committed by Canada would boost India’s foray into nuclear power industry.

The nuclear power agreement seems compreh­ensive and wide-ranging, much beyond the scope of pacts that India has already signed to make its presence felt in global nuclear power industry.

On the other hand, counter-terrorism alliance with US in backdrop of volatility in Afghanistan has boosted the spirits of strong Indian contingent on the last day of G20 summit.

The thirty-minute meet­ing with President Obama and over three hours bilateral summit with the Canadian prime minister have been billed by the Indian establishment as highlights of Manmohan Singh’s visit to Toronto.

It also gave the two leaders an occasion to review the strategic partnership between India and US, take stock of issues that may come up for consideration during Ob­ama’s impending visit in November this year.

The civil nuclear power deal with Canada has come close on the heels of a questionable decision of China to arm Pakistan with two nuclear reactors ou­tside the purview of the non-proliferation treaty.

The Indo-Canadian deal is different in nature, content and intent. This was reflected in the joint news briefings of the two countries' prime ministers.

The Canadian nuclear power deal comes ahead of a civil nuclear pact being contemplated with Japan. Both the leaders also dispelled apprehensions of newsmen in Toronto that fuel, technology and equ­ipment may be diverted for making weapons.

Already, India has nuclear power pacts with US, Russia, France apart from a host of others.

Both Canada and India inked agreements on mining, culture and higher education.