By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : The United States has signalled its readiness to “resolve the remaining outstanding issues” on the India-US civil nuclear deal as a team of senior Indian officials headed to Washington for critical talks on the 123 agreement.
“The United States stands ready to resolve the remaining outstanding issues on the 123 agreement,” State department Spokesman Sean McCormack stated Saturday ahead of the officials’ four-day visit here starting Monday.
“The United States understands the importance of the Agreement to our relationship and the benefits it will bring to both nations. We are confident that with continued hard work, flexibility, and good spirit, we will reach a final agreement,” he added.
The Indian team comprising Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, Department of Atomic Energy Chairman Anil Kakodkar and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will participate in meetings with US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley at the White House.
On July 17, Washington’s key negotiator, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, will host the Indian delegation for meetings and a dinner to discuss the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, including the bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation, also known as the 123 agreement.
In addition, Burns and Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher will hold discussions with the Indian delegation regarding Washington’s broader bilateral relationship and ways to work together to bring stability to the South Asia region, the state department stated.
The crucial talks are seen as a last ditch effort by both sides to break an apparent impasse over key issues that stand in the way of a pact that would resume nuclear commerce between the two countries after a gap of more than 30 years.
These essentially boil down to India’s insistence on its right to reprocess US supplied nuclear fuel, conduct a nuclear test and guarantees for continued supply of fuel for the 14 civil reactors it has agreed to place under international safeguards under a separation plan. Eight other reactors designated military would not be subject to inspections.
The state department statement Saturday is considered significant with the US so far unwilling or unable to sidestep restrictions placed on India by the Henry Hyde Act passed by the US Congress last December approving nuclear cooperation with India in principle.
The US Congress has to again approve the final 123 agreement in an up or down vote before the nuclear deal is implemented. Making any changes in the law now are considered an uphill task with the Democratic controlled Congress at loggerheads with President George Bush though the India deal has broad bipartisan support.
On the other hand, India is also unwilling to stray from the joint statements issued by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bush on July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 that set the ball rolling for the nuclear deal.
Both sides claim to “making steady progress” but an agreement has eluded them so far. Singh sought to give a political push to the long-stalled deal by speaking to Bush Wednesday ahead of the talks. Bush is equally if not more keen on the deal that may go down as a major foreign policy success for the embattled president on par with Richard Nixon’s opening up to China in 1972.
The two leaders also had a brief exchange on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Germany where the Indian side came up with a proposal for setting up a stand-alone dedicated facility for reprocessing US-origin fuel as a way out of the impasse.
The composition of the Indian delegation, especially the inclusion of Kakodkar, indicates that this is New Delhi’s most serious attempt yet to seal the deal by taking the nuclear establishment on board.
India’s ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen and New Delhi’s envoy to Singapore, S. Jaishankar, who have been closely involved in nuclear negotiations, are expected to join the Indian team in Washington for these crucial talks.
Riding on the nuclear-and-technology proposal are tens of billions of dollars in potential energy, aircraft and other deals for the American business.
While US power companies like General Electric Co. and Westinghouse Electric Co. are eyeing $30 billion of nuclear reactor sales over the next 20 years, US aircraft makers are vying for a 126-plane fighter-aircraft deal that could be worth up to $10 billion.
American companies are also lured by India’s huge infrastructure and procurement needs. US exports to India rose 25 percent last year, to $10 billion, from the previous year, while imports from India were up 16 percent to $21.8 billion.
The US Chamber of Commerce, which claims to be the world’s largest business federation representing more than three million businesses, and the US-India Business Council comprising 250 chamber members interested in improving trade ties with India, have been lobbying hard for the deal.