US to address concerns over nuclear liability bill through dialogue

The US will like to address through dialogue with India the apprehensions expressed by certain quarters in that country on some of the provisions in the civil nuclear liability bill, recently passed by Parliament in India.

Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer at the White House, said that both the sides will sit together and address the concerns relating to liability issues.

"I am confident that these issues will be resolved because good people sit across the table and things improve... Each side needs to have their voices heard and you make progress. I am confident that is the way this issue will be approached," he told reporters in New Delhi.

Chopra was responding to a question on the US business community being reportedly unhappy over making suppliers of equipment also liable in the event of a nuclear accident.

Last week, state department spokesman PJ Crowley had said that the US was looking to the Indian government to see what changes can be made in certain provisions of the bill which was passed by Parliament on August 30.

Asked about whether cooperation between the two countries in the IT sector will suffer following President Barack Obama's assertion against giving tax breaks to US companies shipping jobs abroad, he did not give a direct reply but said the Indo-US relationship was growing rapidly and it will grow further.

"The relationship, the revenues and the collaborations that are happening between Indian companies and the US on the ground is growing. It is vibrant and it is strong," Chopra, who is leading a US delegation to explore further cooperation in areas of technology and innovation between the two countries, said.

He said that the US was keen to further enhance collaboration with India in several areas, including in health care sector, development of clean technology and in e-governance.

Earlier, addressing a roundtable on India-US Innovation Forum, he said deeper cooperation between the two countries in in technology sector will help in improving lives of people across the globe.

Addressing the gathering, secretary in the department of science and technology T Ramasami said the government was "completely committed to a fruitful engagement" with the US in making innovations that touch the lives of common people.

"We are very enthusiastic in converting the relationship to a partnership," he said.