NEW DELHI--President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said they made tangible progress on a range of issues
with movement on civil nuclear tradedefense cooperation and climate
change.
With pageantry on full display, Mr. Obama was scheduled to
appear at India's annual Republic Day parade on Monday, a first for
a U.S. leader. But the results of talks on key trade and security
issues were more nuanced.
Mr. Obama described a "breakthrough" in long-stalled talks on
allowing U.S. firms to invest in nuclear power plants in India. But
U.S. officials said work remains on implementation by India, and
some U.S. corporate officials said they are evaluating the outcome
of the talks in New Delhi.
Both leaders touted security agreements, including renewal of a
defense pact and a deal to jointly produce new defense technology.
And Mr. Obama said they agreed on steps to promote clean energy and
to tackle climate change. "India's voice is very important on this
issue," Mr. Obama said.
None of Sunday's discussions amounted to a major accord. Still,
coming on the heels of Mr. Modi's trip to Washington in September,
both leaders declared the visit an unqualified success.
"We have agreed that India and the United States must have
regular summits at greater frequency," Mr. Modi said. "And we also
established hot lines between myself and Barack and our national
security advisers."
The burgeoning personal relationship between the two was on
display from the moment of the arrival of the president and first
lady Michelle Obama, when Mr. Modi departed from protocol and
welcomed the U.S. president on the tarmac.
Mr. Obama greeted the Indian leader with an enthusiastic
handshake and a hug.
The U.S. president later laid a wreath and planted a tree at a
memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, a personal hero of Mr. Obama's.
The U.S. president attended a state dinner in his honor Sunday
night.At a news conference, Mr. Obama joked that Mr. Modi had been
received like a Bollywood star during his visit to the U.S. and
said that the two leaders had compared sleep patterns.
"It turns out Mr. Modi is getting even less sleep than me," Mr.
Obama said.
His itinerary originally included a visit Tuesday to the Taj
Mahal. But just before Mr. Obama left Washington, the White House
said the president would cut short his time in India and fly to
Riyadh as Saudi Arabia mourns its late king. The scheduling change
was viewed as a disappointment in India.
After extended talks Sunday, Messrs. Obama and Modi pointed to a
pathway to resolving issues that have prevented U.S. firms from
investing in nuclear power plants in India.
The two have been at an impasse over India's liability law,
which would hold American suppliers responsible for accidents at
the power plants they take part in building.
The U.S.-India nuclear deal, which was supposed to clear the way
for the sale of nuclear reactors and fuel to India, was signed in
2008. But the 2010 passage of an Indian law making suppliers liable
for accidents stalled progress.
Mr. Obama said he and Mr. Modi had achieved "breakthrough
understandings" on two issues that were holding up progress, but he
offered no specifics. Richard Verma, the U.S. ambassador to India,
said teams from both countries had been working since September to
resolve the liability issue and a second question of how to account
for nuclear materials. After three meetings, the two sides reached
an understanding that addressed both issues.
He said the governments were in agreement but that it would be
incumbent upon U.S. companies to do their own risk assessment.
The agreement calls for a combination of insurance pools and
Indian assurances that a "memorandum of law"--essentially an
executive action--could be used to ensure that India is in
compliance with international rules on liability.
"Now, ultimately, it's up to the companies to decide whether to
go forward or not," he said. "But the two governments came a long
way to reach an understanding."
A spokesman for GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a prospective
supplier, said the firm is reviewing the results of talks
Sunday.
Ben Rhodes, a deputy White House national security adviser,
called Sunday's agreement "a breakthrough," while noting that still
left to do were the technical implementation of the deal and the
companies" own determinations about whether to invest.
"But in our judgment, the Indians have moved sufficiently on
these issues to give us an assurance that the issues are resolved
and that there's a path open to implementation and investment
here," he said.
Mr. Modi said a civil-nuclear agreement would be the centerpiece
of a transformed U.S.-India relationship.
"Six years after we signed our bilateral agreement, we are
moving toward commercial cooperation, consistent with our law, our
international legal obligations, and technical and commercial
viability," Mr. Modi said.
Mr. Obama has been pushing nations ahead of a summit in Paris
later this year to reduce their carbon output, and has cited a
landmark agreement with China's President Xi Jinping in November as
a model.
In India, however, Mr. Obama said the U.S. would share more data
and help India assess and adapt to climate change, and the two
countries will pursue a global agreement at the Paris summit.
John Podesta, adviser to the president, said India's commitments
on clean energy were more of an expansion of renewable energy use
than an effort to shut down coal plants.
"They're going to continue to use a lot of coal in their
system--they're trying to provide electricity to 400 million
people," he said.
During Sunday's meeting, Mr. Modi told the U.S. president that
climate change was "an article of faith for him," Mr. Podesta
said.
William Mauldin contributed to this article.
Write to Colleen McCain Nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com
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