2 Mar (NucNet): India has reached an agreement with the US on placing its civilian nuclear facilities under international safeguards in return for full civilian nuclear cooperation with Washington and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
US president George Bush and India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh said in New Delhi today that they had reached an understanding on the implementation of an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation originally signed last year.
“I have conveyed to the President that India has finalised the identification of civilian facilities to which we had committed,” said Dr Singh. “We have reached a mutually satisfactory understanding with regard to carrying forward the process that was outlined in the July 18 statement which I and president Bush signed.”
He said the so-called separation plan, which separates India’s civilian nuclear programme from its military programme, had been successfully completed. “Now it is for the United States to go to Congress for necessary amendments in US laws. Also, the US will approach the members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and thereafter we’ll also have to go to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for India-specific safeguards.”
No details of the separation plan were announced. In a statement earlier this week, Dr Singh said India had committed itself to separating its civilian and military nuclear programmes, but would not accept safeguards on its indigenous fast breeder programme.
Mr Bush, who called the agreement “historic”, has been calling for changes in US law and NSG regulations to let India obtain restricted items, including nuclear fuel. But some US politicians are against the agreement, pointing out that India is not party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and granting it full civilian nuclear cooperation could free-up indigenous nuclear fuel for its weapons programme.
The two leaders also discussed the US advanced energy initiative, announced by Mr Bush in January. The initiative will see the US invest more in a mix of energy sources, including what Mr Bush called “clean, safe nuclear energy”, to improve the country’s security of supply.
Mr Bush said: “Listen, the whole purpose of the advanced energy initiative is to end our dependence on oil, and as we develop technologies that will enable us to do so, we look forward to working with India so we can achieve the same objectives. He said dependency upon fossil fuels, particularly during times of shortage, causes prices to rise in both countries. “And it’s in our interests that we share technologies to move away from the era of fossil fuels.”
Meanwhile, IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed the announcement of the nuclear cooperation agreement, calling it an important step towards satisfying India’s growing need for energy, including nuclear technology and fuel, as an engine for development.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
US ‘Considering N-Power Cooperation Offer To India’ (News in Brief No. 34, 30 March 2005)
US And India Reaffirm Cooperation On Nuclear Energy Technology (News in Brief No. 68, 19 July 2005)
Decision On Nuclear Facilities Should Be Taken By India Alone, Says PM (News No. 43, 28 February 2006)
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