Well, congratulations to both countries, I hope theres something in it for the both of us. I havnt read the details as yet, but I will as I post the news in here.
India, US seal historic N-deal - The Indian Express
"We have concluded an historic agreement today on nuclear power," Bush told a joint news conference.
"The deal is done. The details are being worked out and the exact language and formulation (of the deal) will be in the joint statement," National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said after the talks between the two leaders.
He said an important step forward is the preparation of a plan that separates civilian from nuclear military facilities and "it has been successfully completed."
"Now it is for the US government to go to the Congress and make necessary amendments to the laws (for implementing the deal) and to approach the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for working the deal," he said. India would also work with IAEA to workout the India-specific safeguards for its civilian nuclear facilities, he said.
"Many of the areas now covers are central to India's national development. They include energy, agriculture, science and technology, trade, investment and high technology, health and environment", said the Prime Minister.
Singh also said a number of announcements and initiatives form part of the joint statement.
Observing that he along with Bush reviewed the global situation during the talks, Singh said both countries have agreed to root out terrorism of which India has been a major victim.
Describing India as one of its largest trading partners, he emphasised on enhancing of trade between the two countries and recalled the growing military ties between them. Bush also thanked the Prime Minister for the aid given to the US after the hurricane Katrina struck its coast.
"We had warm and constructive talks. The talks are reflective of our result oriented relationship," Bush said after more than 100 minutes of one-on-one discussion with the Prime Minister and the delegation level talks at the Hyderabad House.
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Update 5: U.S., India Reach Agreement on Nuke Deal - Forbes.com
"We have reached an understanding on the implementation of our agreement on civil nuclear cooperation," Singh said during a joint appearance by the two leaders. "I have conveyed to the president that India has finalized the identification of civilian facilities to which we had committed."
Under the accord, the United States would share American nuclear know-how and fuel with India to help power its fast-growing economy, even though India won't sign the international nonproliferation treaty.
Reaching the nuclear deal hinged upon determining how to segregate India's nuclear weapons work from its commercial nuclear program, and place the later under international inspection, in a way that satisfied both sides.
Some lawmakers in Washington contend that the Bush administration is essentially making a side deal to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Critics in India, meanwhile, are wary that the United States is meddling in Indian affairs, and is using India as a counterweight to China's growing economic and political influence.
"Proliferation is certainly a concern and a part of our discussions and we've got a good-faith gesture by the Indian government that I'll be able to take to the Congress," Bush said. "But the other thing that our Congress has got to understand that it's in our economic interests that India have a civilian nuclear power industry to help take the pressure off the global demand for energy. ... To the extend that we can reduce demand for fossil fuels, it will reduce the cost to the American consumer."
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They said the details are still being worked out, and I am really looking forward to knowing what they are.
Wow, you've been blogging like crazy that I can brealy keep up. Kudos to you, my man! I was a little surprised myself, to wake up this morning and see news articles that a deal had been reached.
ReplyDeleteNot suprising ... I will forward you guys some stuff about how USA wants to position itself vis-a-vis China and India.
ReplyDeleteThe big question mark is whether the US congress will pass it.
I am looking forward to those articles Sameer. I mean, it would be really naive for anybody to think all this is not to position India against China.
ReplyDeleteKrishna, for all the news articles that I read, it only told me that there were a lot of loose ends, and I think they probably just brushed a lot of minor points under the carpet for now, but I predict problems will arise in the near future.