Ahead of his visit,Obama sends wish list to Singh

Obama is said to have listed out other unresolved issues too that he hoped would be addressed. These include closure on certain defence deals like the purchase of C-17 aircraft,market access to US agricultural products and problems emerging from India’s fresh norms for telecom companies. However,he is believed to have made no mention of issues important to India like supporting its candidature for permanent membership of the UNSC. What is causing some concern is there is no sign of closure on any of the issues important to either side.

UNSC membership: The US has so far agreed to describe India as a “natural candidate” for permanent membership but India is keen on a clearer commitment like US “endorsing” India’s candidature. So,the issue still remains open despite lengthy negotiations with Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake last week.

US Nuclear concerns: For US,India making the move to join the Convention on Supplementary Compensation is just one pre-requisite to begin commercial negotiations. Washington has surprised New Delhi with a suggestion that if the Act cannot be amended,then the operator – in this case the NPCIL – gives an undertaking that the right to recourse to the supplier as enshrined in Article 17 (b) of the Liability Act,will not apply on US suppliers. US has been told that this kind of exception is just not possible and that US companies will have to work within Indian laws. There seems to limited convergence on this issue. The DAE has complicated matters by not assigning high-level officials to brief US nuclear suppliers in a meeting which was scheduled in Mumbai. Upset US authorities took up the matter officially and at South Block’s behest,a meeting was arranged in Delhi where DAE head Srikumar Bannerjee was asked to interact with US suppliers.

Entities list: There is still no clean exemption from the US. While it is prepared to remove ISRO and DRDO entities from the list of entities requiring case-by-case clearance to trade in dual-use technology,US has still not conceded ground on removing entities belonging to the Department of Atomic Energy. Also,US has conveyed that end-use verification would still be applicable even if these entities are taken off the list. This is not acceptable to India,which wants a clean and complete deletion of all Indian entities from the list maintained by the US Bureau of Industrial standards. The issue is still open and further negotiations are needed.

Defence deals and agreements: With the US pushing for India to take a call on signing some of the pending defence agreements like the LSA,CISMOA and BECA,a proposal is under consideration to announce setting up a joint Indo-US group for discussing defence agreements. This is still to get Defence Ministry’s clearance. Meanwhile,certain big ticket defence deals are expected to be announced during the visit.

NSG membership: Here,there is a greater convergence with US agreeing to language that it would seek to “evolve criteria” within the NSG that would make it possible for India to be considered for membership of this elite group.

Market access to US dairy and meat products: US wants prohibition on its dairy and meat products to go. Indian authorities say calf rennet is used in many US dairy products and the ban cannot be lifted until suitable measures are taken to satisfy India that this is not used in products sent to India. US is very keen to have this prohibition lifted while India is worried about religious sensitivities connected with this. A US delegation expected next week to specially discuss this issue.