New Delhi, April 24 (Inditop) The US wants India to sign an agreement for end-use monitoring to receive “sensitive” technology and equipment for counter-terrorism and defence purposes.
“We need to sign an agreement with India that will assure the protection of these sensitive technologies,” US Deputy Chief of Mission Steven J. White asserted while delivering the keynote address at the annual conference of the American Chamber of Commerce here Friday.
White also argued India had still to complete key steps to fully implement the US-India civil nuclear agreement.
He said the US, especially after the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, was ready to provide India the “best possible technologies and equipment it needs to protect itself from terrorism or threat to war”.
But, the senior US diplomat indicated, India had first to remove its objections to end-user monitoring clauses.
The US was looking to “resolve this matter by quickly signing an agreement for end-use monitoring, like we have with more than 80 other countries around the world”, he added.
India has recently approved several big ticket defence purchases from the US, but some other contracts have been delayed over lingering doubts in India over signing the end-user monitoring clause. Such an agreement would allow US officials to inspect that the technology and equipment are used as per their intended sale.
White also argued India had still to complete steps following signing of the civil nuclear pact that include giving sites to American nuclear companies.
“We look forward to India bringing its IAEA safeguards agreement into force and filing its declaration of facilities, the public announcement of reactor park sites for US companies, and the enactment of global standards of liability protection,” he said.
White said the Energy Dialogue working group on nuclear energy would meet in the US for the first time this month-end after the signing the civil nuclear agreement last October.
