Breakthrough on n-deal; companies need own risk assessment

A "different understanding" of India-US relationship by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led to a "breakthrough" on the nuclear deal, but companies need to assess their own risks, US officials said Sunday.

The understandings on the nuclear and other issues were "a sign that the US and India are moving past snags and toward a relationship in which they are stronger partners on the global stage", Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told US reporters accompanying Obama.

Calling the understanding on civil nuclear deal a "breakthrough", Rhodes according to a pool report said: "It was a different tone that has been set by Prime Minister Modi."

"He wants to take the relationship beyond some of the issues we've been hung up on... That's our key takeaway here... We've opened up the door to do a lot more with India in the years to come," Rhodes was quoted as saying.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said the two sides have come to "an understanding of the liability" issue, and that it will operate "through a memorandum of law within the Indian system".

But Verma made clear that the understanding is between the two governments and that "it's up to the companies what to do".

It's not something that would "require at this stage a legislative undertaking", and it's up to the companies to do their own risk assessment, he was quoted as saying.

However, the US, Verma said, has gotten reassurances that they interpret liability in a way that "comports with international understandings".

Insurance pools will be part of the solution to the concerns about the liability issue, Verma said.

Verma, according to the pool report, said Obama and Modi "articulated a different understanding" of the relationship between the US and India, with the civil nuclear deal being an important part of it.

Since November, the contacts groups set in motion by Modi and Obama have been talking about the liability issue and also how to account for nuclear materials.

The group met three times and came up with an understanding on both subjects.

On climate change, John Podesta, counsellor to the president, said the two leaders opened up a "leader channel" on the Paris outcome, comparing it to the "open line" that he said Obama has with Chinese President Xi Jinping on this same topic.

"They can call each other if there are 'bumps in the road' working toward their shared goal," he was quoted as saying in a pool report.

They have a "full commitment" of Modi to move forward on phasing down HFCs according to the Montreal Protocol, Podesta said.

Obama, he said, linked climate change "to the development gap for India", while Modi called it "an article of faith for him" and that he is "inspired" by Obama's leadership on the issue.

On defence, Phil Reiner, senior director at the National Security Council for South Asia, said they had locked down the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), a knowledge partnership by which the national defence universities will work together and renewal of the 10-year defence framework.

The framework talks were contentious last time they did this, he was quoted as saying in a pool report, but this time they were collaborative.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)