'India, US have made considerable progress on 123 agreement'

WASHINGTON: India and the US on Tuesday reported 'extensive progress' in the talks over the bilateral pact to operationalise the civil nuclear deal and decided to hold another round of discussions later this month to finalise the accord.

After their talks, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns said both sides are determined to resolve the differences that remain and firm up the agreement as soon as possible.

"On the 123 Agreement we have made considerable progress forward and we now expect to welcome Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns to India later this month and we hope to finalise this as soon as we can," Menon said at the Indian Embassy on Tuesday evening.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement that the 'discussions were positive and the US is encouraged by the extensive progress that was made on the issues. We look forward to resolving the outstanding issues in the weeks ahead'.

"In that regard, Under Secretary Nicholas Burns will visit India in the second half of May to reach a final agreement," he said.

Asked to comment on some of the things that the United States is said to be insistent upon such as testing and reprocessing, Menon said, "We are not going to get into the issues until we have solved them all. When we have an agreement we will tell you all about it. I am not going to get into individual issues at this stage. Frankly there is no point in trying to negotiate issues through the media".

As far as the time-frame for the 123 Agreement completion, Menon said, "I think we are both confident we can do this and we both want to do it quickly. The quicker, the better".

Asked to comment on the domestic political compulsions in India and the implications of this to the 123 Agreement, he said, "I think it is doable. I am sure we can do this. We have made considerable progress. We still have issues to settle and until we settle them all I would rather not say which one, how much and where. But I think it is doable and would like to do it as quickly as possible."

The top Indian official maintained that he had not used the word 'frustration' in characterising the progress being registered on the 123 Agreement front.

"I think you should ask the people who are frustrated. I don't think I've ever said that," he said.

Brushing aside the notion that India has been dragging its feet on the accord, Menon referred to the statement issued by the State Department on the visit and discussions in the latest round.

"Look at what the State Department has said today. That's our goal and we hope to do it as quickly as we can. I am happy with the progress that has been made. As far as I am concerned, this is doable and we have shown over the last twenty four hours that we want to do it, and we want to do it as quickly as possible" Menon said.

Talks between the two sides focused on sorting out issues in the 123 agreement like right over reprocessing of spent fuel, nuclear testing and perennial supply of fuel for safeguarded Indian atomic facilities.

India's insistence on right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and perennial cooperation even if it were to conduct an atomic test are among the differences that the two sides are seeking to wriggle out of.

In his opening remarks, Menon hailed the role of the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the development of bilateral relations.

"I had a very good meeting with her where we looked at the broader relationship and expressed satisfaction at how it has developed in the last few years. Her own contribution has been considerable. In fact a lot of it would not have been possible without her guidance and human relationship."

"Overall as far as I am concerned we have had a very productive and a very useful two days in Washington DC and I think we have made progress on all fronts," the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Asked about the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and credible nuclear deterrence, he said, "When we said we are interested in working towards an FMCT which is non-discriminatory, verifiable and which is credible. None of this is new. What we are doing here in the 123 Agreement is trying to open up a whole new source of energy for us."

"What we are doing with the 123 Agreement has nothing to do with our domestic indigenous three stage nuclear power programme, nor to our commitment to the FMCT which we entered in to knowing where we were, knowing all the factors," he added.

India sees the 'FMCT as a possible contribution, to nuclear disarmament. So I don't see any contradiction, and I don't anticipate this as affecting our minimum credible deterrence in any way," the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Menon, who led the Indian delegation to the Fifth meeting of the Global Issues Forum where the two sides discussed issues of global significance, said Washington and New Delhi have found several areas of congruence on which they would be working together.