U.S., Indian Officials See Progress on Nuclear Cooperation
23 February 2007
Officials look forward to greater counterterrorism, military collaboration
Washington – U.S. and Indian officials said February 22 that they see no major obstacles to completing a pending civil nuclear cooperation agreement that would place India's civilian nuclear program under international safeguards and enable full civilian nuclear cooperation with the United States.
President Bush and Prime Minister Singh signed the agreement in March 2006. (See related article.)
The officials also reported progress in negotiating a bilateral agreement, which is a prerequisite under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954 for the United States to engage in nuclear trade with other countries.
“We have the understanding already,” Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told an audience in Washington February 22. “Our job now is the technical job, of actually expressing it in legal terms. Now that’s never easy, even if you have a basic understanding of what you’re doing. But it’s not our job now to try to renegotiate in the terms, in the words that we put into the 123.”
The 123 agreement, named after Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, sets forth the specific terms under which the U.S. nuclear industry can cooperate with foreign entities.
U.S. Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns affirmed Menon’s assessment. “The big issues have been decided,” he said. “I’ve always seen the subsequent steps in which we are now immersed as diplomats to be a mere codification of what has already been decided.”
Burns denied there are any major sticking points in the current negotiations. In response to questions about specific issues, he said the two sides already have agreed on fuel provision assurances and nuclear testing.
He said he plans to go to India in the coming weeks to continue the 123 negotiations and added, “I think we will get those done because if key issues have been decided, we’re going to be creative diplomats and find ways to square circles.”
Burns expressed confidence that the two parties would complete the 123 agreement, that India would conclude the required safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency and that the international Nuclear Suppliers Group would approve of the arrangement. Subsequently, the U.S. Congress will hold a final vote on the deal, and Burns expressed optimism that Congress would approve.
Both Burns and Menon said the next major step in U.S.-Indian relations would be closer cooperation in counterterrorism efforts and military operations.
“We felt that those two areas – counterterrorism cooperation and military and defense cooperation – were the next horizons for this relationship, where there was room for growth,” Burns said.
Burns noted that both the United States and India have been victims of terrorism and said the countries have a common interest in confronting the problem. He said counterterrorism cooperation would be focused on coordinating intelligence operations, law enforcement operations, financial restrictions on money laundering and diplomatic efforts.
“Those are the four areas, outside of military action, that are going to be the heart of the effort against terrorism. Military action will be sporadic. It’s not usually the way to fight terrorism,” Burns said.
On the military front, Burns said he envisioned greater cooperation in technology sharing, strategic dialogue and joint exercises.
“There’s a lot that our armed forces can and should be doing together in disaster relief, in international peacekeeping, because we have democratic armed forces under civilian control. We are peaceful nations and we seek to preserve peace and stability both where we live, in our own regions, and globally,” he said.
For more information, see U.S.-India: Strengthening a Global Partnership.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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