March 29, 2010US and India seal key part of nuke deal
Agencies/Washington
The US and India have reached an agreement on reprocessing nuclear material, clearing a major hurdle in putting into practice a landmark atomic energy pact, officials said yesterday.
The agreement, reached after months of painstaking negotiations, would allow India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from the United States for civilian energy purposes.
“Completion of these arrangements will facilitate participation by US firms in India’s rapidly expanding civil nuclear energy sector,” the State Department said in a statement.
The US and India signed their nuclear agreement in 2008, a signature part of the deepening relationship between the world’s two largest democracies.
In New Delhi, US Ambassador Timothy J Roemer called it a crucial step that will enable the two countries to implement their “historic” nuclear deal.
“This important step is part of the great, win-win narrative of the US-India global partnership, affirming the commitment of our two countries to realise the full potential of our landmark civil nuclear agreement,” he said.
These arrangements, the envoy pointed out, will open the door for US firms in India’s rapidly expanding energy sector, creating thousands of jobs for the citizens of both countries.
“The US and India are close to completing an historic partnership on civil nuclear co-operation, an issue of global significance,” he said.
Setting a positive tone for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington to attend the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit, the ambassador said the US recognised that Singh shared President Barack Obama’s bold vision for a nuclear weapons-free world.
“We applaud India’s outstanding track record on non-proliferation issues, and we look forward to our continuing co-operation in this area,” he said.
The pact was finalised after the third round of negotiations early March between India’s Department of Atomic Energy officials led by R B Grover and the US delegation led by Richard Stratford, the non-proliferation and disarmament expert in the State Department.
India had been in the nuclear wilderness for decades due to its nuclear weapons programme and refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But US companies have yet to benefit from the 2008 agreement because of lingering technicalities needed to operationalise the deal.
While the processing deal clears the last major hurdle between the two nations, the US also wants India to sort out several additional issues, including limiting the liability of companies in the case of an accident.
The Indian government is pushing hard for passing in this session of parliament the Civil Nuclear Liabilities Bill.
The civil liability legislation is the last step India is required to complete before the two sides can commence nuclear commerce.
The reprocessing negotiations were expected to be completed during Singh’s November 26 state visit to Washington last year, but differences over some issues and the drafting of the text delayed the pact.
Following months of hard-nosed negotiations, the US side has accepted India’s proposal for multiple dedicated national facilities for reprocessing spent fuel, reliable sources said.
The two sides have also been able to find a way out to accommodate each other’s concerns over India’s right to reprocess in case it conducts a nuclear test.
India has also agreed to security levels at reprocessing facilities, followed by nuclear powers like the US.
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