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India, US fail to reach agreement on nuclear separation

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Feb 25, IRNA
India-US-Nuclear deal
After two days of intense negotiations, the US said it had failed to reach agreement with India on separation of its civilian and military nuclear programs but still hoped for an accord before President George W Bush visits New Delhi next week.

Burns, who arrived here on February 22, left here this morning after holding intense negotiations with Foreign Secretary Syram Saran to work out implementation of the July 18 nuclear deal signed by the two sides during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington.

At the end of two days of talks, there was still no official word on the details of discussions between the two sides, but indications were that differences persisted on the crucial issue of separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities, a PTI report said here today.

One of the points of hard discussion was India's insistence on keeping its Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) outside the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) purview. There was speculation that the US may agree to keep the issue out of current discussions for the time being.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said the two sides had "detailed and productive discussions. There was greater clarity on the issue under discussion."
He said "progress has been made in the talks."
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said there could be no timeframe within which to conclude the talks and emphasized that the nuclear agreement was "never pegged" to the Bush visit.

"When the two countries hold talks, you cannot give a timeframe (to conclude the agreement)," he said, adding that there was, however, a political will to carry forward the process initiated on July 18 last year.

Prime Minister Manmohan singh, who held discussions with Saran and National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, described Burns' visit as "fruitful," and said he was looking forward to meeting Bush when he visits here from March 1.

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