India is committed n-liability law: US

WASHINGTON - Saying India has expressed commitment to the nuclear liability legislation, the United States has said it was up to New Delhi to figure out how to move forward on it overriding opposition objections to certain clauses.

“I don’t see that as a sticking point,” Assistant Secretary Of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake told reporters Thursday when asked about opposition to the nuclear liability bill in India.

“In all of our conversations with the Indian government, they have consistently said that they remain committed to fulfilling this commitment under the civil nuclear deal, to pass civil liability legislation.”

“I think the opposition in India has recently expressed its objections to aspects of that legislation, so it will be up to the government of India to figure out how to move forward on this,” Blake said. “But again, they’ve always said to us that they remain committed to moving that legislation.”

On its part the United States remained committed to the nuclear deal, he said noting “earlier this week, the United States and India announced agreement on our reprocessing arrangement, which we feel is a very important step forward in our civil nuclear process.”

“You’ve heard me say many times that the Obama administration is strongly committed to fulfilling the civil nuclear deal,” Blake said. “And I think this is obviously a very clear sign of that.”