NEW DELHI, 13 June 2006 — India and the United States formally launched negotiations on bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement yesterday. Led by Richard Stratfor, director of Department of Energy, the US delegation is here for three-day talks on Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement or 123 Agreement. Joint Secretary (America) S. Jaishankar heads the Indian side.
US Ambassador to India David Mulford is also participating in the talks.
The two sides aim to work out the operational modalities of a nuclear cooperation agreement based on drafts India and US exchanged last month, officials said. It is to be watched as to whether the three-day talks head toward any agreement from India on US desire for a cap on future nuclear tests by India.
The US wants the 123 Agreement inserted into the pact for this purpose. India, however, has repeatedly voiced its objection to insertion of such a clause in the pact. “We have made it clear that we already have a unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests. There is no need to make it legally binding by inserting a clause into the proposed Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement,” an Indian official said. During the ongoing talks, the US is not likely to insist on India formalizing its nuclear test ban, sources said.
India is also against becoming a signatory to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The US Congress needs to approve an amendment in its nuclear legislation, which prohibits nuclear trade with any country that is not a signatory to the NPT.
The agreement is named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954 which lays stress on bilateral cooperation pact before a comprehensive nuclear deal with another country. With the Indo-US civilian nuclear energy deal, agreed upon last year by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, being currently debated upon in the US Congress, the 123 agreement is to be linked to it. Efforts are also under way to have votes on a civil nuclear agreement and the bilateral agreement in the US Congress together.
The US is interested in promoting India’s civilian program to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. While India has agreed to separate its civilian and military nuclear reactors and place the civilian ones under international safeguards, there is some hitch regarding this. India is also ready to tighten controls on exports of nuclear equipment. However, it would still be essential for the US Congress to make a few amendments and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group has to change some of its rules.
Though the talks are aimed at achieving a final consensus regarding the much-publicized Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement, in certain quarters, this move is also being viewed as a delaying tactic.
