Why does the US want to lift ‘restrictions’ on India’s nuclear agency?

Last Updated on January 11, 2025 6:50 am

The United States will lift ‘sanctions’ on many Indian nuclear energy companies. This was announced by the country’s National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan during his visit to Delhi.

Speaking at an event at IIT Delhi on Monday, he said that the United States is finalizing the necessary steps to remove the long-standing restrictions that have been hindering civil nuclear cooperation between India’s top nuclear agencies and US companies.

According to him, this step is an important step in strengthening the India-US bilateral partnership, which has been long awaited. After the nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1998, India became the object of disapproval of many countries.

The United States imposed sanctions on many nuclear companies to discourage India’s ambitions in the nuclear sector. Later, as the two countries’ relations improved, several companies were removed from the list of sanctions, but many companies still remain under sanctions.

Incidentally, despite the nuclear agreement between the two countries during the tenure of former US President George Bush and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, there were several obstacles in its full implementation. Jack Sullivan has spoken about final steps to remove all those obstacles.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden is about to step down from the post of President of the United States. The newly elected President Donald Trump will be sworn in soon. Sullivan visited India a couple of weeks before that.

Keeping that in mind, his two-day visit was at the center of the discussion. Besides, this visit is considered to be particularly meaningful after Sullivan’s announcement in the nuclear field.

What did the US National Security Advisor say?

Jack Sullivan said that although former President Bush and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid a solid foundation for civil nuclear cooperation almost 20 years ago, we have not fully realized it here.

He said, the Biden administration believes that we have passed the time to take the next major step to strengthen the partnership between US and Indian companies in the development of artificial intelligence and creating clean energy.

According to him, the United States is finalizing the necessary steps to remove the long-standing ban that prevents civil nuclear cooperation between India’s leading nuclear organization and US companies. The formal documentation work in this regard will be completed soon. He said that this will smooth the path of bilateral cooperation.

Jack Sullivan said that scientists and technologists in the private sector will now be able to work together with Indian companies. Civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries will also increase.

Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar was also present at the event. Informed circles consider Jack Sullivan’s announcement to be quite important.

How important is this visit?

The term of the Biden administration is about to end. Before that, Jack Sullivan also met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar. He also met with Prime Minister Modi. He handed over a letter from outgoing President Joe Biden to Narendra Modi.

Later, Prime Minister Modi said that the comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the United States has already reached new heights in several areas including technology, defense, space, biotechnology and artificial intelligence. He expressed the hope that the momentum of relations between the two democracies will increase further for the benefit of the people and the good of the world.

What do experts say?

Experts have given mixed reactions to Jack Sullivan’s visit.

Foreign policy expert and author Rajiv Dogra said that a visit to another country by an outgoing government is not a common practice, especially when relations between the two countries are strained.

The United States had alleged that several people, including top officials and agents of India’s ‘Research and Analysis Wing’, were involved in the conspiracy to kill pro-Khalistan Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannur.

A case was also filed in a US court in September last year. Documents were sent to India and a response was sought. India has denied the allegations made by the United States.

Although this issue was suppressed, there was tension between the two countries. On the other hand, there was no less turmoil over the allegations made against businessman Gautam Adani.

Referring to the allegations made against ‘RAW’ officials, Dogra said that no loud words were spoken in this regard during the visit. At the same time, it was not clearly stated why this visit was suddenly necessary just two weeks before the new president was sworn in. Perhaps more will be known about this visit in the future.

Michael Kugelman of the American think-tank Wilson Center also commented on Jack Sullivan’s visit to India. On social media X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “Jack Sullivan at IIT Delhi has given a detailed assessment of the US-India security and technology relationship.

Interestingly, he has linked democratic values ​​with technological advances. He also announced that the remaining hurdles in the civil nuclear deal will be removed soon.”

Nuclear Sector

India conducted nuclear tests in Pokhran, Rajasthan in 1998. As a result of this operation, several countries imposed economic sanctions on India. The United States imposed sanctions on more than 200 companies working in the Indian nuclear sector.

However, the economic sanctions imposed on India were lifted over time. Meanwhile, the United States also removed several Indian companies from the sanctions list, but many companies are still there.

On the other hand, during the tenure of Dr. Manmohan Singh, a nuclear agreement was signed with the United States. One of its main goals was to supply American nuclear reactors to India.

But it was not fully implemented as the two countries did not agree on several conditions. For example, whether the operator or the manufacturer of the nuclear power plant will be held responsible in the event of a nuclear accident, etc. Jack Sullivan said during his recent visit that all those obstacles would be removed.

Source: BBC