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The agreement signed by Indian ambassador to
the US Meera Shankar and the US Under Secretary
of State William Burns at the State Department
July 30th will enable reprocessing by India of
US-obligated nuclear material at a new national
reprocessing facility to be established by India
under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
safeguards.
The reprocessing agreement was one of the few
remaining steps needed to facilitate participation
by US firms in India's expanding civil nuclear
energy sector. The US side is now awaiting the
passage of a nuclear liability law by India to
enable American companies to take advantage of
an estimated $150 billion nuclear power market
opening up in India.
Describing the agreement as "a reflection
of our deepening ties," Shankar said India
was now looking forward to the visit of President
Barack Obama in November.
"We are confident that the visit would take
our relationship to the next level and demonstrate
how our two countries are working together to
find solutions to the pressing global challenges
of the day and for promotion of peace and stability
in Asia and beyond," she said.
India has an ambitious programme for development
of civil nuclear energy to meet its growing energy
needs with a target to increase our installed
capacity more than seven fold to 35000 MWe by
the year 2022, and to 60,000 MWe by 2032, she
said.
International cooperation, including cooperation
with US firms, is an important component of this
plan, Shankar added.
The State Department said the agreement carries
forward the commitment made by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Obama to fully implement the
India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, describing it
as a significant step which highlights the strong
relationship and growing cooperation between India
and the United States.
This arrangement, negotiated and concluded under
President Obama, reflects the Administration's
strong commitment to building successfully on
the landmark US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Initiative and is a prerequisite for US nuclear
fuel suppliers to conduct business with India.
Previously, the United States had extended such
reprocessing consent only to the European Union
(EURATOM) and Japan.
Notably, nuclear cooperation between the two
countries resulted from President George W Bush’s
keenness to have strong strategic relations with
India. Irrespective of the change in the political
leadership in Washington, the goodwill generated
between the two countries since the days of President
Bill Clinton has continued to grow and strengthen.
The Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative has
facilitated significant new commercial opportunities
across India's multi-billion dollar nuclear energy
market, including the designation of two nuclear
reactor park sites for US technology in the states
of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the State Department
noted.
Increased civil nuclear trade with India will
create thousands of new jobs for the US economy
while helping India to meet its rising energy
needs in an environmentally responsible way by
reducing the growth of carbon emissions, it said.
(IANS)
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