India and Sri Lanka on Friday held the first round of talks on comprehensive civil nuclear cooperation even as New Delhi tried to address Colombo’s concerns on the safety measures instituted at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu.

“Discussions were held in a warm, friendly and cordial manner. Both sides exchanged views on all aspects of civil nuclear cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the uses of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes to mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.

“It was agreed that the two sides would work towards a comprehensive agreement on bilateral civil nuclear cooperation. Discussions included, inter alia, training of officials, nuclear safety and response to nuclear accidents,” a release by India’s Ministry of External Affairs said today.

Responding to concerns raised by Sri Lanka over the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, the Indian side conveyed the KNPP was a state-of- the-art plant that was compliant with the highest safety standards available in the nuclear industry and the safety measures instituted at the plant are of the highest order.

During today’s discussions, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the uses of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes to mutually benefit the people of the two countries.

The Indian delegation, led by Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), included representatives from the Department of Atomic Energy while the Sri Lankan delegation was led by I Ansar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and had representatives from the Atomic Energy Authority and the Ministry of Power and Energy of Sri Lanka. - PTI