US finalizing steps to remove long-standing regulations to foster civil nuclear cooperation with Indian firms: Jake Sullivan

Noting that the vision of India-US civil nuclear cooperation laid nearly 20 years ago by then President George W Bush and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not been fully realised, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Monday said that United States is now finalizing the necessary steps to remove long-standing regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India’s leading nuclear entities and US Companies.

Speaking at IIT Delhi during the session, ‘The United States and India: Building a shared future’, Sullivan said his visit to India is likely the last trip overseas that he will lead as NSA and he cannot think of a better way to end his tenure in the White House.

“Although former President Bush and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh laid out a vision of civil nuclear cooperation nearly 20 years ago, we have yet to fully realize it. But as we work to build clean energy technologies to enable growth in artificial intelligence, and to help US and Indian energy companies unlock their innovation potential, the Biden administration has determined that it is past time to take the next major step in cementing this partnership,” he said.

“So today I can announce that the United States is now finalizing the necessary steps to remove long-standing regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India’s leading nuclear entities and US Companies. 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 United States to come off those lists and enter into deep collaboration with the United States, with our private sector, scientists and technologists to move civil nuclear cooperation forward together,” he added.

He expressed optimism that the technological cooperation between the United States and India will get strengthened in the coming years.

“This is likely the last trip overseas that I will lead as NSA and I cannot think of a better way to end my tenure in the White House, visiting India on my final overseas trip to mark the advances that we have made together over the past four years. This is a shared and historic achievement…I have every reason to believe that within the next decade, we will see American and Indian firms working together to build the next generation of semiconductor technologies, American and Indian astronauts conducting cutting-edge research and space exploration together,” he said.