Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that problems with United States on the civil nuclear deal are "minor" and can be resolved in a couple of weeks as Washington gave an assurance that it remains committed to its early implementation.
"We have had a very good discussion at the highest levels. I have been assured by the US leadership that the USA remains committed to the early implementation of the civil nuclear agreement.
"There are minor problems with regard to the reprocessing (of the spent) fuel under the 123 agreement. I think there are no insurmountable problems. I am confident that in the next couple of weeks we can sort out issues," Singh told a press conference, a day before he wraps up his 5-day visit tomorrow.
On the Civil Nuclear Liabilities legislation, the Prime Minister said the Cabinet has approved the Bill and it has to be passed by Parliament.
In his opening remarks at the press conference, Singh said India and the US have agreed on "early and full implementation" of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
"Based on my discussions with President Obama and other American leaders, I am confident that we can not only continue but also strengthen the momentum of our relations built up in the last few years," he said.
"We agreed on the early and full implementation of our
civil nuclear cooperation agreement. This paves the way for
transfers of high technology items to India," Singh said.
The Prime Minister said that President Obama
recognised the important role India-US relations can play in
meeting the global challenges of the 21st century.
"We agreed that there is a historic opportunity for
India and the United States to work together for world peace
and stability on the basis of our shared values, consensus and
cooperation," he said.
The two sides discussed several ideas on how they can
work together to accelerate global economic recovery and put
it on a more sustainable and balanced path in the future, the
77-year-old Indian leader said.
Hopeful on Iran
Singh said he was hopeful of "positive results" in the
dialogue between the US and Iran on the latter's nuclear
programme.
"I sincerely hope that it (the dialogue) will give positive results," Singh told reporters when asked about his talks with the US leadership on their dialogue with Iran about its nuclear programme.
Singh said India had "very good" relations with both the
US and Iran and that he did talk with the US leaders about
their negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme.
"I did mention to the US leaders that before I came to
the US, the Foreign Minister of Iran was in Delhi and I asked
him about the negotiations on the nuclear programme of Iran.
He said that there was a good message from the Obama
Administration now and that he was hopeful the negotiations
will succeed," Singh said.
During an interaction at Council on Foreign Relations, a
prominent think tank here on the second day of his four-day
visit, the Prime Minister had welcomed President Barack
Obama's efforts to engage with Iran without preconditions,
hoping this will end the stand-off between Tehran and western
countries over the issue of nuclear enrichment.
Singh had stated that Iran as a signatory to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty had the right to use nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes but could not develop a weapon.
"As far as Iran's nuclear weapon ambitions are concerned
I have stated unambiguously on several occasions that we do
not support the nuclear weapon ambitions of Iran," he had
said.
He also indicated that India would abide by any UNSC
resolution on the issue when asked if New Delhi would support
sanctions against Iran.
"If the Security Council in its wisdom passes any
resolution, we have in the past abided by the decisions of the
Security Council," Singh had said.
PTI