'Opportunities provided by Indo-US nuke deal yet to be tapped'

The technological opportunities provided by the Indo-US civil nuclear deal are yet to be tapped, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said.
"The Civil Nuclear Deal opened the way for extraordinary technological cooperation. I am not sure we could quickly make advantage of the opportunities of the technological cooperation it presented," she said.
Rice, who had played a crucial role in the negotiations during the deal, was speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here during a seminar on 'USA and India: Building Stronger Ties'.
Although the deal was signed during the Bush regime in 2008, both the countries have not been able to make good use of it with concerns of "liability" clause of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act raised by many foreign collaborators.

Rice noted that a lot of effort had been put in by both the nations for the deal to be worked out.
"I hope, when we go back and think of how hard that was to make this nuclear deal possible (and) that we will work, (to) use the technological cooperation and opportunities," she said.

She observed that both the countries share common interest and have strong cooperation in the fields of technology, economy and defence.
Referring to the US exit from Afghanistan, she said both the countries have a common interest in stability in South and South Central Asian region.

"Stability in (South and South Central Asia) is a key to stability in other parts. In South Central Asia, if India and Pakistan have stable relations; if Afghanistan develops as a peaceful, integrated, multi-ethnic state...
"Imagine a region in which Pakistan and India are together, Afghanistan and Central Asia all are together, in a region that is dynamic in terms of stability and security. That cannot happen without India and United States," Rice said.