luckyyy
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Fri, Nov 5 06:01 AM
Staying true to their recent tradition of negotiating until the very last minute, senior Indian and American officials are working away furiously to resolve outstanding differences on a couple of major issues and finalise the joint declaration to be issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting US President Barack Obama on Monday. That negotiators are at work barely 48 hours before Obama lands in Mumbai is very symbolic of the current diplomatic style between Delhi and Washington. In a recent briefing on Obama's visit, a highly placed source in the government told reporters that the negotiations are likely to go down to the wire. They have. Obama's interview to the Press Trust of India, released Wednesday night, seemed to pour cold water on India's hopes for liberalisation of the high technology trade and support for India's permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council. But those familiar with the recent evolution of Indo-US relations suggest that Obama's remarks say that a hard-knuckled negotiation is under way. One major rule in diplomatic negotiations is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The indications here are that many mouth-watering dishes have been cooked. But they won't be served until both sides get their choice of the main dish done to their liking. On the question of lifting US high technology export controls against India, billed as one of the major deliverables during the President's visit, Obama told PTI the issue is 'difficult and complicated'. It is learnt that the US is ready to remove all the four Indian organisations including Bharat Dynamics, Indian Space Research Organisation, and the Department of Atomic Energy currently on the black list of US export control law. The only glitch is about the DAE and the kind of assurances Washington needs to satisfy itself that the dual use technologies supplied will not be misused for military purposes. Obama also underlined his concerns on the recently approved Indian law on nuclear liability. Washington has welcomed India's decision to sign the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, but would like India to take additional steps to concretise India's commitment to international standards on nuclear liability and ensure that American companies will not be discriminated against. Can all these issues be resolved in the next two days? It might be recalled that when George W. Bush landed in Delhi late in the evening on a March day in 2006, the two sides decided, on the tarmac of the Palam airport, to revive the near dead nuclear talks. The negotiations continued as Singh and Bush met the next morning in Hyderabad House.
On July 18, 2005, when Singh and Bush announced the historic civil nuclear initiative, the two delegations were quibbling over every word of the declaration in the White House as the two leaders chatted away next door.
The big difference this time, however, is that Barack Obama is not George Bush.
During the tense negotiations of 2005 and 2006, Bush never took his eyes off the strategic objective of building a new relationship with India, and compelled his officials to satisfy all genuine Indian concerns.
While Obama is committed to advancing the partnership with India, his officials appear to be playing hard ball even on minor issues. India's negotiators, too, seem self-assured and ready to take the negotiations to the brink before finding satisfactory compromises.
India-US negotiations carry on till last minute - Yahoo! India News
Staying true to their recent tradition of negotiating until the very last minute, senior Indian and American officials are working away furiously to resolve outstanding differences on a couple of major issues and finalise the joint declaration to be issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting US President Barack Obama on Monday. That negotiators are at work barely 48 hours before Obama lands in Mumbai is very symbolic of the current diplomatic style between Delhi and Washington. In a recent briefing on Obama's visit, a highly placed source in the government told reporters that the negotiations are likely to go down to the wire. They have. Obama's interview to the Press Trust of India, released Wednesday night, seemed to pour cold water on India's hopes for liberalisation of the high technology trade and support for India's permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council. But those familiar with the recent evolution of Indo-US relations suggest that Obama's remarks say that a hard-knuckled negotiation is under way. One major rule in diplomatic negotiations is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The indications here are that many mouth-watering dishes have been cooked. But they won't be served until both sides get their choice of the main dish done to their liking. On the question of lifting US high technology export controls against India, billed as one of the major deliverables during the President's visit, Obama told PTI the issue is 'difficult and complicated'. It is learnt that the US is ready to remove all the four Indian organisations including Bharat Dynamics, Indian Space Research Organisation, and the Department of Atomic Energy currently on the black list of US export control law. The only glitch is about the DAE and the kind of assurances Washington needs to satisfy itself that the dual use technologies supplied will not be misused for military purposes. Obama also underlined his concerns on the recently approved Indian law on nuclear liability. Washington has welcomed India's decision to sign the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, but would like India to take additional steps to concretise India's commitment to international standards on nuclear liability and ensure that American companies will not be discriminated against. Can all these issues be resolved in the next two days? It might be recalled that when George W. Bush landed in Delhi late in the evening on a March day in 2006, the two sides decided, on the tarmac of the Palam airport, to revive the near dead nuclear talks. The negotiations continued as Singh and Bush met the next morning in Hyderabad House.
On July 18, 2005, when Singh and Bush announced the historic civil nuclear initiative, the two delegations were quibbling over every word of the declaration in the White House as the two leaders chatted away next door.
The big difference this time, however, is that Barack Obama is not George Bush.
During the tense negotiations of 2005 and 2006, Bush never took his eyes off the strategic objective of building a new relationship with India, and compelled his officials to satisfy all genuine Indian concerns.
While Obama is committed to advancing the partnership with India, his officials appear to be playing hard ball even on minor issues. India's negotiators, too, seem self-assured and ready to take the negotiations to the brink before finding satisfactory compromises.
India-US negotiations carry on till last minute - Yahoo! India News
