Taking steps to clear hurdles for US-India civil nuclear ties: NSA Sullivan

The United States is finalising steps to clear hurdles for civil nuclear partnership with Indian firms, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday, seeking to give fresh momentum to a landmark deal between the two countries.

Washington and New Delhi have been discussing the supply of US nuclear reactors to energy-hungry India since the mid-2000s. 

Delighted to meet US NSA @JakeSullivan46 in New Delhi today morning.  Continued our ongoing discussions on deepening bilateral, regional and global cooperation. Valued the openness of our conversations in the last four years. Appreciated his personal contribution to forging a… pic.twitter.com/jm9P2pW7zn

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 6, 2025

But a longstanding obstacle has been the need to bring Indian liability rules in line with global norms which require the costs of any accident to be channelled to the operator rather than the maker of a nuclear power plant.

The deal was signed by then President George W. Bush in 2007, a major step toward allowing the United States to sell civilian nuclear technology to India.

"United States 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," Sullivan said in New Delhi on Monday.

He is on a two day visit to the Indian capital, days before President-elect Donald Trump is due to be sworn in.

Washington expects the impact of Chinese upstream dams, artificial intelligence, space, military licensing and Chinese economic overcapacity to be discussed while Sullivan is in New Delhi, a U.S official said on Saturday.

The two countries agreed in 2019 to build six US nuclear power plants in India.

The South Asian nation's stringent nuclear compensation laws have previously hurt deals with foreign power plant builders, subsequently deferring India's target to add 20,000 MW of nuclear power from 2020 to 2030.