Paperwork underway to unleash civil nuclear deal: US NSA Sullivan

Signed back in 2007, the nuclear deal has not yet been fully realised, he said

The US is finalising the necessary steps to remove longstanding regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between Indian nuclear entities and American companies, US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan said on Monday. The move is likely to make it easier for India to access sensitive US nuclear technologies that Washington DC has so far kept close to itself. 

 

Delivering remarks on US-India ties in critical and emerging technologies (iCET) at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D), Sullivan said the formal paperwork on unleashing civil nuclear partnership will be done soon.

 

Referring to the civil-nuclear deal signed between US and India under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ex-US President George Bush in 2007, the outgoing NSA said both countries are “yet to fully realise it”.

 

The historic deal had allowed India to buy dual-use nuclear technology from the US, including equipment and materials for reprocessing plutonium and enriching uranium. It also enabled India to access civilian nuclear fuel and technology from other countries. But according to US think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, New Delhi is long overdue in removing the obstacles that prevent its purchase of nuclear reactors from the US, consistent with the written commitments it made. Meanwhile, the US has continued to be wary of India's stand in not joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

 

"This will be an opportunity to turn the page on some of the frictions of the past and create the path for entities that have been on the restricted list in the US to come off that list," Sullivan said on the new push to boost nuclear ties.

 

Sullivan's comments came hours after meeting External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar. He is on a two-day visit to India as part of the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden's final engagement with New Delhi. Later in the day, the US NSA met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership has scaled new heights, including in the areas of technology, defence, space, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI). Look forward to building upon this momentum in ties between our two democracies for the benefit of our people and global good," Modi said in a post on social media platform X, after the meeting.

 

India is seeking to rapidly expand its use of nuclear power over the next decade as it aims to both decarbonise and meet rising energy demand.

 

Sullivan said the iCET initiative has already launched partnerships on jet engines, semiconductors, and clean energy, and is expected to put an Indian astronaut into space in a few months’ time. Launched two years back, iCET is a framework agreed upon by India and the US for cooperation on critical and emerging technologies in various areas, including AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, and wireless telecom.

 

Indian private sector investment in the US surpassed that of China recently, and has contributed to 400,000 American jobs, Sullivan said.