Hillary Clinton raises nuclear liability issue with SM Krishna

With the US attaching "important priority" to liability matters, secretary of state Hillary Clinton raised the issue of India's civil nuclear liability legislation with external affairs minister SM Krishna in the wake of concerns by American business to some provisions.

The nuclear liability issue was raised by Clinton during her 30-minute meeting with Krishna here yesterday, which were aimed at laying the groundwork for President Barack Obama's visit to India in November.

"The issue was raised with minister Krishna today and he explained about the processes that the bill had gone through," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told journalists after the bilateral meeting in which she accompanied the visiting external affairs minister.

The liability legislation, which was recently passed by Indian Parliament, has been troubling several American industrialists since it makes suppliers of equipment also liable in the event of a nuclear accident.

The legislation was a critical step to pave the way for the full implementation of the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

"And the fact that we were ready to engage with the US companies on the questions that they had raised to be able to clear their doubts and clarify the issues they wanted to discuss with us," Rao added.

Clinton and Krishna met at the Waldorf Astoria on the sidelines of the opening session of the General Assembly, which kicked off last week.

Rao had also discussed the nuclear liability issue with Clinton last week in Washington.

"The US administration understands the process," Rao said.

"Secretary Clinton spoke of their own processes within the country and their often contentious nature of democracy which is a fact that we all appreciate," she said.

Assistant secretary Robert Blake underlined that the liability issues are an "important priority" for the US.

"We've taken note of some of the concerns that industry representatives have raised about some of the provisions of the liability bill and that the bill may possibly be inconsistent with international standards," Blake told journalists after the Clinton-Krishna meeting.

"We look forward to working with the Indian government to work our way through this and arrive at a solution where American industry can contribute to India's ambitious civil nuclear energy needs," he told reporters.

Blake described differences between the two countries over nuclear liability issues and H-1B visa issues as "irritants" in a more complicated relation, and noted that India and the US had the "goodwill" to resolve outstanding matters.