Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday told US President Barack Obama that India has gone some way in responding to concerns of American companies through the rules notified recently under the Nuclear Liability Act and was willing to address any specific grievances within the framework of Indian laws.
Talking to mediapersons after an hour-long meeting with Obama in Bali on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, Singh said, ?I explained to him that we have a law in place and rules have been formulated … These will lie in Parliament for 30 days. Therefore, we have gone some way to respond to concerns of American companies and within the four corners of the law of the land, we are willing to address any specific grievances.”
The new rules, made public on Wednesday, state that suppliers of nuclear material to power plants in India will be able to specify a ?product liability period? beyond which they will not be liable for any accident. The power plant operators will not have recourse to the supplier after the initial period is over. The burden of compensation, in case of an accident, will rest on the operator. The Act, read with the rules, also limits the liability on suppliers to Rs 1,500 crore.
However, it is not clear if these rules address the concerns of American suppliers fully. Citing global practices, some major suppliers including GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Westinghouse Electric Co have argued in the past that the burden of compensation must rest solely on the plant operator and not on them. ?There is a reality post Fukushima. You can?t say Indian laws cannot apply,? said an Indian official earlier, adding that companies have done business in the past without any law.
Before heading for talks with Obama ? whom he is meeting after over a year since the latter?s three-day visit to India in November last ? Prime Minister Singh said there were ?no irritants? today working together with the US in a multiplicity of areas. He invited US companies to invest in India?s infrastructure sectors that require an estimated $ 1 trillion over the next five years.
The two leaders had a ?warm and friendly? meeting and discussed several bilateral, regional and multilateral issues. These included Singh?s recent meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, maritime security, the recent IAEA report on Iran and the global economic situation, said Sanjay Singh, Secretary (East). US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also present during the meeting today.
Referring to the ongoing strategic dialogue that was initiated in 2010, the PM noted there was great progress on all fronts. Welcoming Obama to the East Asia Summit (US and Russia are two new members to have joined this year), Singh told him that the summit should respect the centrality of ASEAN countries.
President Obama said since his November 2010 trip, the two countries have continued to make progress on a wide range of issues. ?This will be a outstanding opportunity for us to continue to explore how we can work together, not only on bilateral issues but also in multilateral fora, like the East Asia Summit, which we believe can be the premiere arena for us to be able to work together on a wide range of issues, such as maritime security or nonproliferation, as well as expanding the kind of cooperation on disaster relief and humanitarian aid that’s so important,? he said.
Prime Minister Singh said that the two countries have made progress in every direction, strengthening their bilateral cooperation ? economy, investment, trade, higher education, clean energy, and strategy and defense relations. ?It’s a privilege for India to find you and your administration as deeply invested in ensuring that India makes a success of its historic journey to have the social and economic transformation carried out in the framework of an open society, a democratic polity, committed to the rule of law, and respect for full human freedoms,? he said.