Both Obama and Modi welcomed the start of preparatory work on the construction of six nuclear reactors in India that are part of that project.
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“Noting that the U.S. -India defense relationship can be an anchor of stability and given the increasingly strengthened cooperation in defense, the United States hereby recognizes India as a Major Defense Partner”, said a joint statement issued after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
India and the USA have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation on energy security, clean energy and climate change, and an MOU on cooperation in gas hydrates.
India passed a law in 2010 that would make USA companies constructing nuclear power plants in the country liable for accidents.
Indian-American Congressman Ami Behra on Wednesday said the relationship between New Delhi and Washington is moving in a positive direction courtesy Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and said the entrepreneurs of both sides investing in each other’s nation is a testament to the fact.
Star India, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, also said it will invest an additional United States dollars 5 billion over the next three years.
According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, India has the most slaves in the world, with more than 18 million people trapped in debt bondage, forced into marriage, sold to brothels or born into servitude.
It will be the first such construction since the two countries signed a landmark nuclear accord in 2008.
It was the third summit between the current leaders of the world’s two largest democracies, and discussions focused on areas of joint concern, from solar power and counter-terrorism to wildlife conservation and communicable diseases.
Environmental groups had hoped Mr Modi would say that India was ready to ratify the agreement during his Washington trip to cross that 55 per cent threshold.
Meanwhile, President Obama said on Tuesday that he and Modi discussed how to ensure a worldwide agreement forged in Paris to curb climate change could be enacted swiftly. Mr. Obama said, India and U.S. are the two largest democracies in the world and the cooperation between the two countries will be helpful for the entire globe. However, despite work already having begun on the site, no agreement has yet been made on cost and financing of the project – a major sticking point in the plans.
Modi will wrap up a two-and-a-half-day visit to the nation’s capital – his fourth in two years – with the address, the first by a visiting head of state since Pope Francis last October and the first under Ryan’s leadership of the House.
A nuclear power deal in India had been elusive for decades, given India’s previous stance on holding nuclear power plant manufacturers liable for damages in the event of a nuclear power incident or accident.
The decision was welcomed by Obama and Modi.
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It is also suffering the after-effects of a 30-year period in which few new reactors were ordered by the domestic market, and has been struggling to make the business case for new orders while the price of natural gas is low.
