US and India agree nuclear power deal during Obama visit

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Barack Obama today announced that they had broken their six-year impasse over a civilian nuclear power deal.

"We achieved a breakthrough on two issues that were holding up our ability to advance our civil nuclear co-operation," Mr Obama said at a joint press conference with Mr Modi in New Delhi, following a day-long summit.

“We are committed to moving towards full implementation,” he said, adding that it was ultimately up to the US nuclear equipment suppliers to progress things, now that the two governments had come to an understanding.

Both sides were deadlocked over the 2008 bilateral civil nuclear agreement, following US insistence on tracking all fissile material supplied to India despite oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Strict Indian laws on liability in the event of a nuclear accident were also preventing US firms from capitalising on the agreement by supplying India with equipment to build atomic power plants to meet desperate electricity shortages.

The 2008 agreement had allowed India to pursue civil nuclear commerce, and to retain its weapons programme without agreeing to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Mr Obama and Mr Modi, meeting for the second time in four months, voiced optimism that they could find common ground on defence, counter-terrorism, and commercial and environmental issues, particularly climate control.

Dedicated hotline

Mr Modi announced the setting up of a "dedicated hotline" between his office and that of the US president – India's first such link between heads of government – and his determination to elevate bilateral ties between Delhi and Washington.

Earlier, Mr Modi broke with protocol to receive Mr Obama as he landed in Delhi. The prime minister bear-hugged Mr Obama in a remarkable emotional display, given that a few months ago he was denied a US visa for his inability, as chief minister of western Gujarat state, to control the Muslim pogrom there in 2002.

But after becoming prime minister in May, Mr Modi determinedly pursued a policy of strengthening ties with the US that had floundered for years under the previous Congress Party-led federal coalition.

In a surprise move he invited Mr Obama to be chief guest at India’s showpiece Republic Day military parade taking place tomorrow.

Mr Obama will be the first US president to attend the pageant, which marks the anniversary of the enactment of India’s democratic constitution. He is also the first to visit India twice, the last occasion being in November 2010.

“Relations between countries depend less on full stops and commas and more on the relationships between leaders . . . the chemistry between them,” Mr Modi said at the press conference.

The two sides also extended their 10-year Defence Framework Agreement. The agreement is aimed at enhancing the scope of bilateral military exercises, reciprocal visits by military personnel, increased intelligence-sharing and maritime co-operation.

Containing China

Analysts, however, view this pact as a subtle move to jointly contain China's growing militarism, especially in the strategic Indian Ocean region. Negotiations are also ongoing with Japan and Australia to include them in a putative quadrilateral, as they too are anxious to limit Beijing's ambitions.

Mr Obama’s visit is taking place amid unprecedented security, with more than 60,000 armed police and soldiers and 15,000 closed-circuit surveillance cameras being deployed across Delhi, large portions of which have been locked down.