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In bid to boost energy ties, US removes curbs on three Indian entities
The announcement of US intent was first made by US national security advisor Jake Sullivan during his visit to New Delhi last week.
The US Department of Commerce removed restrictions on three Indian entities — Indian Rare Earths, Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Center (IGCAR), and Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) — to enable nuclear cooperation between the two countries on Wednesday. In the same announcement, it added 11 Chinese entities to the list.
In a press statement, the Bureau of Industry and Security said that the decision will “will support U.S. foreign policy objectives by reducing barriers to advanced energy cooperation, including joint research and development and science and technology cooperation, towards shared energy security needs and goals”.
It added that the US and India shared a commitment to “advancing peaceful nuclear cooperation and associated research and development activities”, and that strengthened science and technology cooperation over the past several years had benefitted both countries and their partner countries around the world.
The statement quoted the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security Alan Estevez as saying, “With these Entity List additions and removal, we have sent a clear message that there are consequences for supporting the PRC’s military modernization, and alternatively, incentives for working with the U.S. to further shared foreign policy goals and stronger bilateral relationships.”
Matthew Borman, the principal deputy assistant secretary of commerce for export administration, said that the removal of the three Indian entities would also enable closer cooperation between the US and India “to secure more resilient critical minerals and clean energy supply chains”.
The announcement of US intent was first made by US national security advisor Jake Sullivan during his visit to New Delhi last week. He had spoken of the civil nuclear cooperation envisaged by George W Bush and Manmohan Singh two decades ago that remained unrealised.
Sullivan then said, “But as we work to build clean energy technologies, to enable growth in artificial intelligence, and to help U.S. and Indian energy companies unlock their innovation potential, the Biden administration determined it was time to take the next major step in cementing this partnership.” He then announced that the US was finalising steps to “remove longstanding regulations” that had stood in the way of civil nuclear cooperation between Indian entities and US companies. “This is a statement of confidence in the progress we have made—and will continue to make—as strategic partners, and as countries who share a commitment to peaceful nuclear cooperation.”
Experts caution that while the lifting of restrictions on the three Indian entities was an important step, it did not mean that the obstacles have been overcome entirely, given the hesitation among US companies to invest and partner till India’s nuclear liability framework does not get change. But the momentum for policy changes in this realm is coming from the recognition on both sides that the future of nuclear cooperation may lie in small modular reactors and help address energy deficits and aid the transition towards clean energy.
