NEW DELHI, Jan 25:
India and the US today broke the 7-year-old logjam in operationalising their landmark civil nuclear deal besides deciding to jointly produce military hardware including advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama.
In what Obama called a “breakthrough”, the two sides resolved key hurdles pertaining to the liability of suppliers of nuclear reactors in the event of an accident and the tracking of fuel supplied by the US.
“We have broken the logjam of the past few years. We have reached an agreement. The deal is done,” Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh announced after extended discussions between Obama and Modi lasting more than three hours, marked by great bonhomie.
The two countries renewed an enhanced Defence Framework Agreement for the next 10 years and identified four key “pathfinder projects” for joint development and production including the next generation Raven mini UAVs and specialised kits for C-130 military transport aircraft.
Both countries also agreed on a Working Group to explore aircraft carrier technology besides designing and development of jet engine technology.
The warm relationship between Modi and Obama, meeting for the second time in four months, was on full display when they had a long stroll in the lawns of Hyderabad House where the Indian leader personally served tea to his guest while they were seated in the open.
Modi good-humouredly refused later to disclose as to what they talked about. “Parde main rehne do (let it remain a secret),” he told reporters.
The nuclear deal was the centrepiece of Obama-Modi discussions given its contentious nature and both sides later declared that the hurdles in the implementation of the 2005 agreement have been resolved.
After the talks, the US said the understanding on the civil nuclear programme resolves the US concerns on both tracking and liability.
“In our judgement, the Indians have moved sufficiently on these issues to give us assurances,” US Ambassador to India Richard Verma told American journalists.
He said it will still be for the US companies to assess the market and decide whether to partake in India’s nuclear programme. Neither country needed to take legislative action to complete the agreements reached between the two leaders.
The Foreign Secretary said that assurances are given to the US side on both the liability clause and tracking issues.
“The liability provisions and administrative arrangements finalised under 123 act (tracking) are consistent with our bilateral legal arrangements and contracts and IAEA safeguards and international laws and obligations,” Singh said.
“The civil nuclear agreement was the centrepiece of our transformed relationship, which demonstrated new trust. It also created new economic opportunities and expanded our option for clean energy.
“In the course of the past four months, we have worked with a sense of purpose to move it forward. I am pleased that six years after we signed our bilateral agreement, we are moving towards commercial cooperation, consistent with our law, our international legal obligations, and technical and commercial viability,” Modi said.
On defence and security, she said both the countries have agreed on four projects under the Defence Technology Transfer Initiative (DTTI) including exploration of development of advanced jets in India.
“What we have done is to operationalise an initiative and identified projects,” Indian Ambassador to the US Jaishankar said.
The deal on nuclear cooperation and other areas was clinched between Modi and Obama after discussions spread over three hours at the delegation level as well as one-on-one talks besides a tete-a-tete on the lawns of the Hyderabad House reflecting the warm personal chemistry between the two leaders.
At the outset, both the leaders said they were committed to deepening relations between the two countries and the fact that Obama is the first US President to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations and also the first to visit India twice were signs of the growing relations.
On terrorism, the Prime Minister said it remains a principal global threat taking on a new character even as existing challenges persist.
“We agreed that we need a comprehensive global strategy and approach to combat with it. There should be no distinction between the terrorist groups. Every country must fulfil its commitments to eliminate terrorists safe havens and bring terrorists to justice,” he said.
Modi said the two countries will deepen their bilateral security cooperation against terrorist groups and further enhance counter-terrorism capabilities including in the area of technology.
Touching on regional cooperation, Modi said the two countries renewed their commitment to deepen cooperation to advance peace, stability, prosperity in Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region which is critical for the future of the two countries and the world.
Modi said they also discussed working on how to help in the transformation of Afghanistan, apparently after complete withdrawal of the US troops.
Obama said both the countries are going to be strong and reliable partners for people of Afghanistan.
The two leaders said they have decided to scale up their economic relationship including holding talks in future on a bilateral investment treaty.
Modi said India and the US will also restart discussions on a social security agreement which is important for the hundreds of thousands of Indian professionals working in the US.
Obama said in the last few years there has been a 60 per cent increase in the bilateral trade and wanted the trade level to reach USD 100 billion which he hoped could be achieved with Modi Government’s commitment to liberalise ease of doing business.
Identifying terrorism as a major challenge, India and the US stressed the need for joint and concerted efforts to disrupt terror entities including LeT, D Company and the Haqqani Network and asked Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 terror attack to justice.
After his talks with Obama, Modi at a joint press conference said there should be no distinction between terrorist groups and pressed for countries to fulfil their commitment to wipe out terror safe havens and bring them to justice.
He said India and the US have agreed that there was a need for comprehensive global strategy and approach to combat terrorism.
“The leaders reaffirmed the need for joint and concerted efforts to disrupt entities such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, D Company and the Haqqani Network, and agreed to continue ongoing efforts through the Homeland Security Dialogue as well as the next round of the US-India Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism in late 2015 to develop actionable elements of bilateral engagement,” a joint statement said after the talks.
The two sides noted the recent US sanctions against three D Company affiliates.
The President and the Prime Minister further agreed to continue to work toward an agreement to share information on known and suspected terrorists.
They also agreed to enter discussions to deepen collaboration on UN terrorist designations, and reiterated their call for Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai to justice, it said.
The President and the Prime Minister also noted the positive cooperative engagement between the Indian and the US authorities with a view to working together to counter the threat of IEDs and to develop counterterrorism best practices.
“Terrorism remains a principal global threat. It is taking on a new character, even as existing challenges persist,” Modi said.
Modi said the two countries agreed that they need a “comprehensive global strategy and approach” to combat it.
“There should be no distinction between terrorist groups. Every country must fulfil its commitments to eliminate terrorist safe havens and bring terrorists to justice,” he said.
He said the two countries will deepen their bilateral security cooperation against terrorist groups. “And, we will further enhance our counter-terrorism capabilities, including in the area of technology,” said the Prime Minister.
Obama thanked Modi for India’s “strong counter-terrorism cooperation”.
He said as America’s combat mission is over in Afghanistan, “we are going to continue to be strong and reliable partners for the Afghan people who have benefited from India’s generous assistance over many years”. (PTI)
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