New Delhi
9 September 2010
Washington has urged New Delhi to be sensitive to its concerns and those of
American corporates while framing the rules for the nuclear liability Bill which was
recently passed by Parliament.
US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer is understood to have conveyed similar
sentiments to South Block as both sides determine how to proceed with the last leg of
the journey towards operationalising the India-US nuclear deal.
The envoy's meeting coincided with the US state department making it known that it was
in talks with New Delhi to see what changes can be made to the Bill. Sources confirmed
Mr Roemer's meeting but described it as routine.
Notwithstanding the US concerns, South Block is of the view that the new Bill does not
change the liability of the supplier as it existed before, and that the provisions of the Bill
are consistent with the Vienna Convention.
Ironically, India's difficulty in accommodating all of Washington's onerous expectations
is matched only by the US's reluctance to dismantle export controls and licensing,
leading to further delays in operationalising the nuclear deal.
As the US keeps up the pressure on India to cushion the impact of the Bill for American
corporates, the US itself remains unrelenting on revisiting its domestic requirement of
end-use assurance from India on the use of nuclear equipment and materials.
A bone of contention is the "part 810" of the "10 CFR" (Code of Federal Regulations) of
the US dealing with assistance to foreign atomic energy activities. It requires an
undertaking that the nuclear technology will be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.
The US department of energy wants an explicit undertaking to be made by the Indian
Government, and not by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which,
in New Delhi's reckoning, will be the designated "operator" of the American-built nuclear
reactors to be set up in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
The US department of energy is the competent authority that will have to issue the "Part
810" licence to American companies for engaging in nuclear commerce with India, after it
has made a determination that such trade is not prejudicial to the US non-proliferation
objectives or inimical to its defence and security.
For its part, New Delhi contends that it has implicitly given this pledge at the time of
negotiating the text of the 123 agreement with the US. Since then, it has shown an
interest in harmonising its export controls and also sought membership of the
Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime
(MTCR) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
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