N-deal: India says negotiation on reprocessing to take time

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 24 (PTI) India Tuesday said it is not
looking at finalising negotiations with the US on a pact on
reprocessing of spent fuel, a key step in implementation of
the nuclear deal, during summit talks between Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama here.
"As far as arrangements for reprocessing talks are
concerned these are ongoing. We are not looking at finalising
them tomorrow in any case," India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama
Rao told reporters, hours ahead of Singh-Obama talks at the
White House.
"This is an ongoing process, as I mentioned to you, these
talks have progressed well," Rao said when asked about the
progress of the negotiations on reprocessing facilities, which
many were expecting to be concluded during the summit.
There are a number of issues that are being discussed
between the two sides, she said.
"Our experts have been engaged very intensively in these
discussions and I am happy to report that much progress has
been made and we would be finalising these issues very
shortly," Rao said.
India so far has had several rounds of negotiations with
the US – the first two being in Vienna and the rest in
Washington -- on reprocessing agreement on spent nuclear fuel,
which constitutes a significant part of the 123 agreement.

The 123 Agreement on bilateral nuclear cooperation gives
New Delhi prior consent to reprocess.
However, it stipulates that this right would come into
effect only when India establishes a new national facility
dedicated to reprocessing safeguarded nuclear material under
safeguards of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and
reaches an agreement with the US on "arrangements and
procedures under which such reprocessing ... will take place
in this new facility."
It was on February 3 this year that the then Indian
Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon wrote to Under Secretary
for Political Affairs William Burns, invoking the provisions
of the 123 Agreement with a formal request to negotiate the
"arrangements and procedures" under which American spent fuel
would be reprocessed in India.
The Department of Atomic Energy also sent a similar
formal request to Richard Stratford. The United States
acknowledged the request.
The first round of talks were held in Vienna in the
fourth week of July, during which both India and the US
"surprised" each other by coming out with draft proposals.
The second round of talks were held in Vienna again in
October. Rest of the talks were being held in Washington in
the last couple of weeks.
While the American delegation is being led by Richard
Stratford, Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs in
the State Department and Washington's point man for nuclear
negotiations with India; the Indian side is headed by Ravi B
Grover from the Department of Atomic Energy.
Once the reprocessing agreement is concluded, the Obama
Administration would send this to the Congress for approval.
Unlike, the up and down vote of the 123 Agreement; this
automatically becomes law after 60 Session Days of the US
Congress; unless the Congress disapproves it by a veto
majority – two-thirds. This is considered to be near
impossible.
So when Obama concludes a text that he is going to submit
it is a fate accompli that it would become a law. PTI LKJ
ANU