US will push for India’s admission to NSG later this month

“It is the strong objective of the Obama administration,” to have India voted as a member of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at this year’s plenary - which will be taking place in the last week of June in South Korea - a senior administration official said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama met for more than three hours, discussing strategic, economic and security issues on Tuesday.

The U.S. official said India and the U.S. have finalised the text of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), and the document is ready for signing.

India in MTCR

In another significant step forward in India’s push for accessing high-end technology, all members of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) have agreed to India being admitted into the exclusive club. Describing the development a huge success, the administration official said, after some “technical matters are carried out,” a decision on India’s admission would be formally announced. This announcement could come within a week.

Confusion on India’s climate change commitment?

While the U.S. side insisted that Mr. Modi and the President agreed that both countries would ratify the climate treaty within the current year — 2016 — Indian officials said this was not the case.

The joint statement leaves enough room to accommodate both interpretations. “India and the United States recognise the urgency of climate change and share the goal of enabling entry into force of the Paris Agreement as early as possible. The United States reaffirms its commitment to join the Agreement as soon as possible this year. India similarly has begun its processes to work toward this shared objective,” the statement said.

Pacific Cooperation

India and the U.S. have a drawn up a detailed action plan for its cooperation in Asia Pacific, based on the Joint Strategic Vision that was unveiled by the PM and the President when the latter visited India in January 2015. The official who briefed on the condition of anonymity said the document will not be made public, but it has specific details about areas of cooperation on multiple fronts.