The United States this week signalled its intention to persist with pressuring India to get the International Atomic Energy Agency to adjudicate on whether the civilian nuclear liability bill passed in the Indian parliament was consistent with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation.
Reiterating the U.S.’ demand that the IAEA get involved, U.S. Deputy Secretary William Burns said on Tuesday, “We encourage India to engage with the IAEA to ensure that India’s liability regime fully conforms with the international requirements under the [CSC].”
While Mr. Burns welcomed India’s commitment to ratify the CSC later this year, he said that if international and Indian firms were to participate in India’s civil nuclear sector, “India needs a nuclear liability regime consistent with international standards.”
His comments, which came during a U.S.-India dialogue organised by the Brookings Institution and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, underscore remarks made earlier by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
During her July meeting with Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna in New Delhi at the second round of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, Ms. Clinton had stated the U.S. position in the very same words that Mr. Burns used this week, saying that the U.S. “encouraged” New Delhi to “engage” with the IAEA to ensure that the Indian nuclear liability law “fully conforms” with the CSC.
While Mr. Burns said that completing the civil nuclear partnership was central to both nations’ long-term prosperity and India’s future energy security, Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao, who also spoke at the same event, said that there were immense opportunities for U.S. companies in this sector and that Indian and U.S. companies were already in discussions to set up nuclear power plants in India.
“On its part, the Government of India is committed to provide a level playing field for all our international partners,” Ambassador Rao added.
