By IANS,
Washington : The India-US civil nuclear deal moved a step closer to implementation with President Barack Obama delegating his functions and authority to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make the specified report on the accord to Congress.
The White House announced the delegation of Certain Functions Under Section 104(g) of the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 to Clinton to report to the Congress in a presidential memo to her Wednesday.
India and US announced on March 29 that they have concluded an agreement for a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in India. But the administration is yet to notify the Congress about it. The agreement takes effect unless the Congress adopts a joint resolution of disapproval within 30 days of its submission.
India had reportedly insisted on conclusion of the reprocessing agreement before awarding any contracts to the US firms under the nuclear deal. India in turn is committed to adopting a nuclear liability bill to permit US firms to undertake nuclear projects under US law.
Section 105 of the US law requires the president to inform the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee of “any material inconsistencies” with respect to the content and timing of notifications that New Delhi is to provide to the International Atomic Energy Agency under paragraph 14(a) of India’s Safeguards Agreement.
It also requires the president to report on a variety of activities that could be undertaken pursuant to the nuclear agreement.
These include all provision of sensitive nuclear technology to India, any United States efforts to help India develop a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel, any negotiations that have occurred or are ongoing under Article 6(iii.) of the Agreement; any transfers beyond the territorial jurisdiction of India and any enrichment carried out pursuant to Article 6 of the Agreement.