US to remove regulations to facilitate nuclear cooperation with India

New Delhi: The US will remove regulations that have prevented cooperation between key Indian nuclear entities and American companies, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday, marking a major step forward in implementing the landmark 2005 civil nuclear agreement. The move, Sullivan said, is an opportunity to move away from “frictions of the past” and acknowledges India’s “open and transparent engagement” with the US. Referring to the unrealised vision of civil nuclear cooperation laid out by Singh and Bush, he said: “Today, I can announce that the US is now finalising the necessary steps to remove long-standing regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India’s leading nuclear entities and US companies.” He added, “The formal paperwork will be done soon, but this will be an opportunity to turn the page on some of the frictions of the past and create opportunities for entities that have been on restricted lists in the US to come off those lists and enter into deep collaboration with the US, with our private sector, with our scientists and technologists to move civil nuclear cooperation forward together.” Though Sullivan didn’t give details of the Indian entities covered by the move, US documents state that several organisations linked to the Department of Atomic Energy are on the list of restricted entities for nuclear cooperation and commerce. Sullivan said the Biden administration had “determined that it is past time to take the next major step in cementing” the US-India partnership at a juncture when both sides are working to build clean energy technologies to enable growth in artificial intelligence and to help US and Indian energy companies unlock their innovation potential.