U.S, India to Hold Nuclear Talks Next Week

U.S. and Indian officials plan to hold the first formal round of talks on the next stage of their planned nuclear deal March 26 to March 30 in New Delhi, the Indian Express reported yesterday (see GSN, March 16).

The U.S. delegation is to be led by veteran State Department official Richard Stratford.

The U.S. Congress last year approved exemptions to U.S. nonproliferation laws to enable the deal to proceed, but a detailed agreement over exactly what technologies India would receive remains to be negotiated.

Although the congressional waiver cleared one obstacle, a U.S. requirement that India open all of its nuclear sites to international monitoring, several other hurdles remain in the U.S.-Indian talks, according to the Express.

In particular, Indian officials are concerned about another provision of U.S. law that could enable the United States to ask India to return any provided nuclear materials and technology if India conducts another nuclear test, the Express reported.

Also, current U.S. law requires Washington’s approval before a recipient of nuclear fuel can reprocess that fuel after it has been used in a reactor (Dhal Samanta, Indian Express, March 18).

India would insist on its right to reprocess, or separate plutonium from spent reactor fuel, a senior Indian nuclear official said recently.

“We want reprocessing rights upfront,” said Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar.  “Reprocessing is a non-negotiable right” (Press Trust of India, March 18).

Meanwhile, Austria has expressed concern about the pending deal and has suggested it would not support changes to international export control rules, another set of changes that would be required for the deal to advance, DailyIndia.com reported Saturday.

Austria is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group which sets international rules for nuclear trade.

“We will as members of the NSG have a careful look,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik on a visit to New Delhi, where she met Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

“I have shared with my colleague the concerns relating to the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty regime,” she added.  “We basically are of the opinion that such should not be the case” (DailyIndia.com, March 17).

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