Joint Statement hails Indo-US nuke deal as "historic accomplisment''

New Delhi, Mar 2 (UNI) India and the United States today termed as "historic accomplishment" the completion of discussion on India's plan to separate civilian and military nuclear facilities, and said this would permit them to move forward towards full civil nuclear energy cooperation between them and with the international community as a whole.

In a Joint Statement issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush held talks on Indo-US nuke deal and on other wide ranging issues, both the countries said they looked forward to the full implementation of the commitments in the July 18, 2005, Joint Statement issued in Washington during Dr Singh's visit.

They welcomed the participation of India in the ITER initiative on fusion energy as an important further step towards the common goal of full nuclear energy cooperation.

It was agreed that India will participate in FutureGen, an international public-private partnership to develop new, commercially viable technology for a clean coal near-zero emission power project. India will contribute funding to the project and participate in the Government Steering Committee of this initiative.

Both the countries welcomed the creation of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which will enable India and the U.S. to work together with other countries in the region to pursue sustainable development and meet increased energy needs while addressing concerns of energy security and climate change.

The Partnership will collaborate to promote the development, diffusion, deployment and transfer of cleaner, cost-effective and more efficient technologies and practices.

The United States welcomed India's interest in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme, an international marine research endeavour that will contribute to long-term energy solutions such as gas hydrates.

Noting the positive cooperation under the Indo-US Energy Dialogue, the statement highlighted plans to hold joint conferences on topics such as energy efficiency and natural gas, to conduct study missions on renewable energy, to establish a clearing house in India for coal-bed methane/coal-mine methane, and to exchange energy market information.

UNI SH PK BS1629