Nuke cooperation high on PM agenda in US

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 20 (PTI) As he prepares to meet President
Barack Obama in Washington, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh hopes the US will be "more liberal" in transferring
technologies to India and clear the way for implementing the
landmark agreement on nuclear cooperation.

Singh, who leaves for Washington Saturday, gave enough
indications in an interview to The Washington Post that
nuclear cooperation would be high on his agenda during talks
with Obama.
"We have a landmark agreement with the US on nuclear
cooperation. We would like to operationalize it and ensure
that the objectives for the nuclear deal are realised in
full," he said.
Singh said the restrictions on technology transfers
to India "make no sense" since the country has an impeccable
record of non-proliferation.
"My hope is that we can persuade the US administration to
be more liberal when it comes to transferring technologies to
us. The restrictions make no sense. India has an impeccable
record of not participating in any proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction. So that's my number one concern," he said.
Top Indian and US officials are holding hectic parleys
to conclude a deal on reprocessing of spent fuel before the
November 24 Singh-Obama meeting.
The US side is insisting on an assurance from India on
nuclear non-proliferation, a sticking point in clearing the
way for nuclear commerce. (MORE) PTI LKJ
ANU


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