WASHINGTON, July 21: The United States and India are close to a final agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, said a joint statement issued after the conclusion of four-day talks between the teams of two countries on Friday night. The statement, released by the Indian embassy, provided no details of the talks and only said: “We will now refer the issue to our governments for a final review.”
Indian embassy spokesman Rahul Chhabra declined to elaborate the agreement and said: “The text of the agreement has not yet been finalised.”
Mr Chhabra said there would be no press briefing on the talks that began on Monday and were extended for two days in an attempt to remove differences over a draft agreement India found unacceptable.
“There have been some tough issues. This is new ground for both of us,” State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said on Friday.
An agreement that was finalised by the US and India in March 2006 faced some troubles after a Congressional vote in December which required India to pledge not to conduct any more nuclear test and not to use spent nuclear fuel from the plants, the country would receive from the US, for military purposes.
India finds both the conditions unacceptable and is urging the US to remove them. Washington, however, says that relevant US laws prevent it from doing so.
President George W. Bush in December 2006 signed into law a bill approved by Congress allowing the deal to go through, a major step towards letting India buy US nuclear reactors and fuel for the first time in 30 years.
But the deal cannot be implemented until both sides sign the document of implementation, known as the 123 agreement after a US law.
The Indian embassy said both sides held “constructive and positive” talks on the 123 agreement.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns led the US team in the talks while Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon led the Indian side.
Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, who came with the delegation, and Foreign Secretary Menon met Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, and US National Security Advisor Stephen P. Hadley during their four-day stay in Washington.
“Undersecretary Burns and Foreign Secretary Menon are pleased with the substantial progress made on the outstanding issues in the 123 agreement,” the joint statement said.
