Indo-US Civilian Nuclear deal good for American jobs : Rice

By Staff
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Washington, Mar 13 (UNI) India plans to import eight nuclear reactors by 2012 and if US companies win just two of these contracts, it will mean thousands of new jobs for American workers, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, strongly justifying the Civilian Nuclear Agreement between the two countries as good for American jobs.

In an article in the Washington Post today, the Secretary of State said the United States planned to expand the Civilian Nuclear partnership with India to Research and Development, drawing on India's technological expertise to promote a global renaissance in safe and clean nuclear power.

''Our agreement is good for American jobs, because it opens the door to civilian nuclear trade and cooperation between our nations,'' she said.

Ms Rice said the Bush Administration was ''consulting extensively'' with the US Congress seeking to amend the laws needed to implement the agreement.

''This is an opportunity that should not be missed. Looking back decades from now, we will recognise this moment at the time when America invested the strategic capital needed to recast its relationship with India,'' she added.

In the article 'Our Opportunity With India', the Secretary of State while describing India as a ''rising democratic power in a dynamic Asia,'' said the agreement is a strategic achievement and would strengthen international security, enhance energy security and environmental protection.

It would also foster economic and technological development, help transform partnership between the two countries and make the future more secure by expanding the reach of the international non-proliferation regime.

The Secretary of State said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would gain access to India's civilian nuclear programme and even the Agency's Director General Mohamed ElBaradei had joined leaders in France and the United Kingdom to welcome the agreement. Dr ElBaradei had called it ''a milestone, timely for ongoing efforts to consolidate the non-proliferation regime, combat nuclear terrorism and strengthen nuclear safety.'' ''Our agreement with India is unique because India is unique.

India is a democracy, where citizens of many ethnicities and faiths cooperate in peace and freedom. India's civilian government functions transparently and accountably. It is fighting terrorism and extremism, and it has a 30-year record of responsible behavior on non-proliferation matters,'' Ms Rice said.

Rejecting any suggestion of comparison between India, Iran and North Korea, Ms Rice said aspiring proliferators such as North Korea or Iran may seek to draw connections between themselves and India.

''But their rhetoric rings hollow. Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism that has violated its own commitments and is defying the international community's efforts to contain its nuclear ambitions.

North Korea, the least transparent country in the world, threatens its neighbours and proliferates weapons. There is simply no comparison between the Iranian or North Korean regimes and India.'' She said the world has known for some time that India has nuclear weapons, but the Indo-US agreement would not enhance its capacity to make more.

Under the agreement, India would separate its civilian and military nuclear programme for the first time. It would place two-thirds of its existing reactors, and about 65 per cent of its generating power, under permanent safeguards, with international verification -- again, for the first time ever.

This same transparent oversight would also apply to all of India's future civilian reactors, both thermal and breeder.

US sale of nuclear material or technology would benefit only India's civilian reactors which would also be eligible for international cooperation from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The agreement is also good for energy security and India has a ''massive appetite'' for energy to meet its growing development needs, Ms Rice added.

Ms Rice said civilian nuclear energy would make India less reliant on unstable sources of oil and gas. The agreement would allow India to contribute to and share in the advanced technology that is needed for the future development of nuclear energy. And because nuclear energy is cleaner than fossil fuels, the agreement would also benefit the environment.

A three-fold increase in Indian nuclear capacity by 2015 would reduce India's projected annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 170 million tons, about the current total emissions of the Netherlands.

Ms Rice, describing the agreement as an essential step towards the goal of transforming America's partnership with India, said that for too long during the past century, differences over domestic policies and international purposes kept India and the United States estranged.

But with the end of the Cold War, the rise of the global economy and changing demographics in both countries, new opportunities had arisen for a partnership between the ''two great democracies.'' The Secretary of State said the US was beginning to realise the full promise of its relationship with India, in fields as diverse as agriculture and health, commerce and defence, science and technology and education and exchange, describing the civilian nuclear agreement as a critical contribution to the stronger, more enduring partnership.

''More than 65,000 Americans live in India, attracted by its growing economy and the richness of its culture. There are more than two million people of Indian origin in the United States, many of whom are US citizens. More Indians study in our universities than students from any other nation.'' She said that as Asian nations continued their dramatic rise in a rapidly changing region, a thriving, democratic India would be a pillar of Asia's progress, shaping its development for decades.

''This is a future that America wants to share with India, and there is not a moment to lose,'' she said.

UNI

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