Canada and India have concluded talks on a nuclear co-operation agreement and are taking steps to prepare the document for signing, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Saturday.

He made the announcement during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

Harper said the deal will increase collaboration with India's civilian nuclear energy market and give Canadian companies greater access to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies.

"This agreement will allow Canadian firms to export and import controlled nuclear materials, equipment and technology to and from India," Harper said.

The prime minister did not say when the agreement would be ready for signing.

Earlier this year, Trade Minister Stockwell Day announced that government-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) had signed a memorandum of understanding with India for next-generation nuclear reactors.

It was a turning point for Canada, which stopped nuclear co-operation with India in 1974 after its government used plutonium from a Canadian reactor to build an atomic bomb.

Last September, the international community lifted a three-decade ban on nuclear trade with India even though India still refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Some anti-nuclear activists worry India will stockpile domestic uranium for military weapons and use uranium imports for civilian purposes.

Day said Canadian negotiators insisted India allow nuclear inspectors into civilian facilities. Under the deal, Canadian nuclear exports cannot be used for military purposes, he said.

Now that the moratorium has ended, countries are lining up to sell nuclear technology to India, which wants to build 25 to 30 new reactors in the coming years.

"India's needs for nuclear energy are enormous, just as we need a lot more energy to make a success of our developing presence," Singh said Saturday.

In addition to AECL, Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. also wants to sell to India. Canada’s nuclear-energy industry generates approximately $6.6 billion in annual revenue, including $1.2 billion in exports each year, and employs nearly 31,000 people.

With files from The Canadian Press