Menon conveys Indian
concerns over N-deal
Shivshankar MenonWashington: In a day of hectic diplomacy, Indian Foreign
Secretary Shivshankar Menon talked with senior US officials on matters ranging from the India-US civil
nuclear deal to bilateral relations and regional affairs.
On his first visit to Washington after taking over as foreign secretary in October, Menon on Wednesday spent over three hours talking with the key US negotiator for the deal, Nicholas Burns, the under-secretary of state for political affairs.
Picking up the thread from where prime minister's special envoy on nuclear issue Shyam Saran had left it on his visit three weeks back, the two discussed the way forward on the implementing bilateral 123 Shivshankar Agreement in the context of New Delhi's continued concerns over certain elements in the enabling law passed by US Congress.
New Delhi is not ready to accept any legally binding provision on future nuclear testing in the 123 Agreement. Nor is it happy with provisions relating to conditional access to reprocessing technology, end use verification of reprocessed fuel and the attempt to cap India's strategic nuclear programme.
Besides the nuclear deal, Menon and Burns are understood to have discussed the whole gamut of bilateral relations as also regional issues encompassing Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran and Iraq.
At the Department of State, Menon also met under-secretary for democracy and global affairs Paula J. Dobriansky, who coordinates US foreign relations on issues like democracy, human rights, narcotics control and law enforcement and migration.
Menon later met under-secretary of
defence (policy) Eric S. Edelmans, who coordinates the US defence department's relations with foreign countries and formulates defence planning guidance and forces policy, and its role in interagency policy making.
He capped his day with a round of informal exchanges with members of leading think tanks and other prominent people at a dinner hosted by Indian ambassador Ronen Sen.
Menon continues his round of meetings with other senior officials in the departments of state, commerce, agriculture, energy, defence and the National Security Council on the sidelines of the fifth US-India
High technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) meeting Feb 22-23.
Co-chaired by Menon and US Deputy
commerce Secretary David A. Sampson, the meeting will focus on streamlining export control regimes of the two countries that hamper trade and investment in high technology. It will also open a dialogue about Indian eligibility for the US department of commerce's new validated end-user programme (VEU), also known as the trusted customer programme.
Menon is expected to press for removal of some extant sanctions on trade in certain high-technology items between India and the US at official-level bilateral discussions scheduled for Friday after the private sector business interactions.
US Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, just back from his first mission to India, will deliver the keynote address to the group at the US Chamber of Commerce Thursday. He will discuss emerging avenues of trade and cooperation in high technology.
A daylong business-to-business interactive discussion on the theme of A Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century - New Horizons for US-India Business will address critical issues affecting US-India high-technology cooperation.
It will cover areas such as information technology, telecommunications, defence/strategic cooperation, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and intellectual property.
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