TRIUMF, which is based at the University of British Columbia, and Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), located in Kolkata, will embark on an initial $2.24 million partnership, which will spur developments in cancer diagnosis, nuclear and medical-isotope research.

"Through this partnership, we will design and build a revolutionary new generation of accelerators with impacts in physics, materials science and nuclear medicine," TRIUMF director Nigel Lockyer told a handful of people at a posh reception celebrating the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

"It will end up being the world’s most powerful electron accelerator of energy. . . .We’ve already talked about other areas where we want to collaborate so this is really just the beginning."

The announcement between the two laboratories comes just weeks before the 45 countries of the Nuclear Supplier’s Group, including Canada, votes on whether to exempt India, which never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, from nuclear trade restrictions.

It is unclear at this time how Ottawa will vote. However, two weeks ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, including Canada, unanimously voted to subject 14 of India’s 22 nuclear reactors to the agency’s inspection mandate.

Traditionally, Canada has stood in opposition to India’s renegade nuclear agenda but now it has taken on somewhat of a lighter tone. At the reception last week, VECC director Dr. Bikash Sinha humourously referenced Canada’s often tenuous relationship with India over the "nuclear issue."

"The first reactor in Bombay was of Canadian design. Then the relationship got a little bit strange because India behaved apparently very naughty," he said referring to when India was internationally criticized for testing its first atomic bomb in 1974. A wry smile spread across his face as the intimate gathering of 50 laughed.

Over the clanging of pots and pans at the high-end Metro Restaurant in Downtown Vancouver, Dr. Sinha and MP Raymond Chan, who was at the reception representing the Federal Government, took delight in India’s new presence on the world stage.

MP Chan, who is a former employee of TRIUMF, pondered over how drastically Canada’s relationship with India has changed since his first ministerial visit to India when he served as Secretary of State for the Aisa-Pacific region in the late 90s.

"Mine was the first visit in eight years," he said. "It shocked me — that how could Canada have ignored such a big ally for so long, without any high-level visit?

"And perhaps, most interesting, the first thing I was warned about during my briefing was the nuclear issue. So we skated very carefully around those issues."

But indeed, times have changed. Both U.S. presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain have expressed their support for the U.S.-India deal, which would permit U.S. companies to build nuclear reactors in India and provide nuclear fuel for its civilian energy program.

And the Canadian government doesn’t look too far behind. A Foreign Affairs Departmental Performance Report tabled in the House in November stated: "If the Nuclear Suppliers Group agrees to exempt India from it’s guidelines, Canada will pursue nuclear co-operation with India, which would provide substantial commercial opportunities for Canada."

Next Saturday, India celebrates its independence. And what better way than by asserting its right to go nuclear — with a happy nod from North America.