WASHINGTON: Resolving to take forward the landmark civil nuclear deal, India and the U.S. decided to set up an inter-agency contact group to address liability and technical issues hindering installation of American-origin nuclear reactors in India.
From the Indian side, the inter-agency contact group will have representatives from Department of Atomic Energy, Ministry of External Affairs and Finance Ministry.
After Summit-level meeting with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said both sides are serious about resolving at the earliest issues relating to the civil nuclear deal.
"Both of us are committed to taking forward the civil nuclear partnership agreement. We are serious about resolving at the earliest issues relating to civil nuclear energy cooperation. This is important for India for meeting energy security needs," he said.
Vikram Doraiswami, Joint Secretary (Americas), in the Ministry of External Affairs, said the contact group will resolve the outstanding issues relating to nuclear trade between the two countries.
"We are setting up an inter-agency contact group to be able to resolve all issues that are outstanding and hindering the rapid deployment of U.S.-origin nuclear reactors in India, that includes specific mention of liability, it includes administrative issues and it includes technical issues," he told reporters briefing about the Modi-Obama meeting.
The Indo-U.S. nuclear deal concluded between the previous Manmohan Singh government and the Bush Administration has been stalled because of issues relating to liability laws.
In the joint media event with Modi after their talks, Obama said India meets the standards of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and is "now ready" for the membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a 48-member body which controls global nuclear trade.
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