New Delhi
31 August 2005
The United States has removed licence
requirements on nuclear related items that will now allow not only Indian
safeguarded nuclear reactors but Indian companies in the private sector
to acquire technology, equipment and software. It has also removed six
Indian entities from the "Entity List".
This is being projected by Washington as the final phase of the Next
Steps in Strategic Partnership and a move that will clear the way for future
civil nuclear cooperation. The decision clears the sale of nuclear related
items to India by US companies as it lifts the earlier restrictions on
exports and re-exports.
The US has removed India from the "NP2" list that it had imposed
unilaterally after the Pokhran nuclear tests. However, India still remains
on the "NP1" list that can only be cleared by the Nuclear Suppliers Group
(NSG). The US ambassador to India, Mr David C Mulford, told journalists
that efforts were on to persuade the NSG members to agree to this. He
said that the Americans will speak to the NSG members on this issue. The
US Congress will reassemble on September 8 and will take up the matter
as well.
Washington is keen to convince India that it is moving to keep its end of
the bargain in the nuclear agreement signed between President George W
Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. These decisions taken by the
Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce are
being described as a "part of the process of relaxing export control
regime" and "making licensing predictable".
With this latest move, the US has removed three subordinate entities of
the ISRO and three entities of the Department of Atomic Energy. The six
entities removed are: ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network
(ISTRAC), ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), Spac Applications Centre
(SAC), Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS 1 and 2), Rajasthan Atomic
Power Station (RAPS 1 and 2) and Kudankulam 1 and 2.
A "novelty" of the removal of these six entities is that only TAPS 1 and 2
and RAPS 1 and 2 were recognised earlier as being safeguarded; now
with the inclusion of a third nuclear plant in the list, the US has
recognised Kudankulam also in the category of safeguarded reactors.
A large number of entities were put on the list after India conducted
nuclear tests in 1998. A few were removed in 2001 and some like the
headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were
removed after the introduction of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership
(NSSP) last year.
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