Speeches and Remarks 2006

Transcript of Remarks by Ambassador Mulford
to the Press
 On Senate Passage
of the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Bill

New Delhi, India
November 17, 2006                             ( audio;  video )  (Related Item)

Ambassador Mulford:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  I would like to welcome you to Roosevelt House.  The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the civil nuclear agreement between the United States and India.  I will be happy -- after I've made a couple of introductory remarks -- to take your questions.

Today was an historic day in the long relationship between the United States and India, perhaps the best day ever between the two countries, because -- as I think you all know -- the United States Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of passing the legislation for the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement.  This will result in a Conference being held now in the first week of December between the House and the Senate, which will rationalize the two bills that have been passed, and then present them to the President for signature.  That will change the law in the United States and permit the realization of normalization of relations in the civil nuclear area between the United States and India.  I think it is important on this day, first of all, to recognize the magnitude of the accomplishment between the two governments -- two major democracies -- which have negotiated and managed a very complicated technical agreement, and brought it to fruition at this point.  Secondly, to acknowledge and to thank members of the United States Congress -- both on the House side and members of the Senate -- who have passed this legislation and have made valuable input into it.  And also to congratulate and acknowledge and to thank our counterparts and colleagues in the Indian Government for their longstanding patience and dedication to reaching this agreement and to making it work.  It does represent the realization of President Bush's vision to assist India in emerging as a world power by removing the isolation that India has been living under for the past thirty-plus years in this important area, and to permit India to develop -- with the participation and assistance of players all over the world -- the development of its civil nuclear industry, and to open up a new source of additional energy for this country to help promote and enhance its economic growth and its emergence as a major world power.  So, basically, it is an extremely important day.  We are very excited about what has happened.  I have just had a meeting with Mr. Saran -- who also is very enthusiastic about the result -- and I think we can now move forward to the next phase with a great deal of optimism.  I would be happy to take your questions.

Question:  Peter Wonacott, with the Wall Street Journal.  We have been told what a boon this agreement would be for the economic relationship between the U.S. and India.  What signs do you see, or what signs are you looking for that that boon is actually playing out?  What sort of signposts should we be on the lookout for?

Ambassador Mulford:  The development of the civil nuclear industry is a long-term proposition requiring very significant investment, technology, and so on.  I think everybody knows that India generates about 2.5% of its electrical requirements today from civil nuclear and that its plan, if this is passed, is to enhance that to a much higher level of energy output, thus relieving to some extent its dependence on imported sources of energy.  This will take some time coming.  The entire world will in due course open to India in this way.  There will be interest from all countries in investing and developing -- helping to develop -- India's civil nuclear industry.  And it will permit India to feel comfortable as it continues to grow and develop its economy, that it will have adequate resources to meet its energy needs.

Question:  Sheela Bhatt, Rediff.com.  Do you agree with the view that celebration is a little too early, in view of the fact that in India, critics will first like to see the final print, and then they will compare it with the Prime Minister's promise in the Rajya Sabha over this bill?  Do you agree with this, that there are apprehensions?

Ambassador Mulford:  The legislation is now visible.  The two bills are visible -- the House bill and the Senate bill.  The challenge of the conference committee will be to rationalize the two bills into a single bill that will then be presented to the President for signature.  So we know what is in the legislation.  Our view is that the agreement that has been achieved, and the legislation, clearly falls within the parameters of the original agreement between the two countries -- first in July, the preliminary agreement, and secondly in March of this year, when the President was here, the final agreement -- and that it meets all those tests and conditions.  Now, we know that there are some areas of uncertainty and sensitivity, as the process of rationalizing the two bills take place.  We are all well aware of that.  We are aware of the fact that there are some problems that need to be looked at and solved.  The administration has made very clear its intention to continue to work with the Congress on these issues, and I believe it will be possible to resolve most of these problems, and that we will come out with something that is acceptable.

Question:  Javed Naqvi, Dawn.  In 2002, the streets around Chanakyapuri were almost desolate because of the nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan.  How do you think the sense of responsibility that we now imbue India with, is it going to ensure that that kind of standoff does not happen again in the future, in the context of this additional assistance that India is going to get now from the world community? 

Ambassador Mulford:  I would like to remind you that this agreement is a civil nuclear agreement.  That has been the nature of the negotiation.  That is what this is about.  And it is the sector of the economy that is addressed by the agreement.  The effect of the agreement, of course, will be to bring India into the mainstream of the world again as a country with advanced nuclear technology, and will permit India once again to enjoy normal civil nuclear relations with the entire world.  That is the nature of the accomplishment.

Question:  My question was, would you think this deal is going to minimize the chances of 2002 repeating itself?

Ambassador Mulford:  I think I have answered your question by reminding you it is a civil nuclear agreement.

Question:  (Manish Chand, IANS) There are some skeptics within the Nuclear Suppliers Group about the nuclear deal, notably Scandinavian countries.  How confident are you that the nuclear deal will clear the NSG, and what is the U.S. doing to persuade the skeptics?

Ambassador Mulford:  Both we and India have conducted dialogues with members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and India has done a particularly good job at meeting with and discussing these issues with members of the group.  A number of countries in that group have expressed their support after initially having questions.  The countries you mention have been met with, and they have had discussions with them, and I am confident that in the end, members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group will come to a consensus that will permit them to change their rules and recognize this change.

Question:  How does the U.S. view the Chinese proposal to assist Pakistan with civil nuclear development?

Ambassador Mulford:  This press conference is on the civil nuclear agreement between the United States and India.

Question:  Jyoti Malhotra from Star News.  Ambassador, you just said that the whole world is now open to India, and India will now have a chance to participate in normal civilian nuclear relations with America and other countries.  Would you say that, implicitly, this gives India a "sixth nuclear power" status?  Would you say that, implicitly, India is the sixth nuclear nation in the world?

Ambassador Mulford:  Clearly this agreement will permit India to emerge as a major world power, and it will no longer be isolated, it will no longer be outside the system.  It will be inside the system and brought in in a way that strengthens the non-proliferation regime of the world.  And on that basis, it is a very important and historic development.

Question:  Aditi Phadnis from the Business Standard.  You have pointed out the enormous business opportunities that this deal will represent.  By when do you think that we should expect deals to be struck, and also by when do you think that the business side of it will come to fruition?

Ambassador Mulford:  I would remind you, and I think you remember that the events that have to take place once the law has changed is that the Nuclear Suppliers Group needs to form a consensus to change its rules.  The IAEA negotiation between India and the IAEA needs to be accomplished, and we need to complete the negotiations of the 1-2- 3 agreement -- the bilateral agreement between the United States and India which is the operationalization of the agreement.  These things will take some time, but they are clearly achievable now within a matter of months.  I would say that you have already seen -- from what I understand -- considerable interest from countries all over the world in their recent visits to India to try to position themselves for what they believe is going to happen in the civil nuclear area, including in the case of the United States.  At the end of this month there will be a U.S. trade mission, which will be the largest trade mission ever mounted by the United States to any country, and within that group of some two hundred companies is a significant number of companies that are in one way or another in the civil nuclear industry -- providers of sophisticated technology, providers of resources, reactor components, and so on.  This is a group of companies that's already coming to India in anticipation of this change.  So I think you will see -- even before all the steps are completed -- evidence of the business, positioning, planning and so on.  And I think the results will therefore begin to come through quite quickly, as soon as the activity is permitted.

Question:  Seema Guha from DNA.  Ambassador, what could be the pitfalls ahead now?  What do you think could be the sticking points from here on?

Ambassador Mulford:  I do not see what there should be by way of sticking points.  I have said there are areas of sensitivity.  We all know that.  We have got to bring the two pieces of legislation together and resolve these issues.  The administration, as said before, has committed itself to resolving any existing problems that may exist.  But at the moment, I would say the outlook is extremely positive, and certainly we will complete this.  That is very clear now.

Question:  Ambassador, the Iranian Foreign Minister happens to be visiting this week.  And the Indian Foreign Minister, in his meeting with him yesterday, apparently said that he looked forward to more Indian investment in Iran.  The Iranian Foreign Minister invited Manmohan Singh to visit Teheran.  Any concerns about that?

Ambassador Mulford:  I think he is here for the purpose of the conference on Afghanistan, and I did say earlier this is about the civil nuclear agreement between the U.S. and India.  On that last score, I just may -- in response partly to your question -- remind everybody to take a look at the enormous bipartisan support that came forward in the United States political system to support this important and historic change in our law.  The margin of support in the House last summer was 359 to 68 on the floor vote, and today -- this morning -- in the Senate, the vote was 85 to 12.  These are two bodies that reflect the opinions of the American public, and clearly there was huge bipartisan support for this agreement and for the U.S.-India U.S. relationship as developed and project to the American public over the past few years.  I think this is where your eye should be, because this tells you something about the long term future that exists for these two major democracies as you look out into the future that lies ahead.  The civil nuclear agreement is an important part of that, but it is not the entire message.  The bigger message is the vision that this represents between the two countries.

Question:  In the statement issued by the U.S. Department of State, it is said that we look forward to the Senate-House conference in December, when remaining issues of concern to the U.S. government can be addressed.  What are those concerns?

Ambassador Mulford:  The issues of concern to the U.S. Government are to rationalize the two pieces of legislation into a single bill, and to address in that process any outstanding issues there are which are causing sensitivity or concern in India, and to seek to resolve all the outstanding issues that remain, of which incidentally there are very few.  This is something that still has to be done.  And the conference process will carry this out, and the administration will work with the conference to attempt to accomplish that result.

Question:  Dean Nelson, London Sunday Times.  Ambassador, you said we should be looking at the broader and bigger vision that this deal presents between India and the United States.  Can you tell us a bit more about that, and whether you envisage that broader vision and that strategic partnership as bringing more international implications on India, in terms of international affairs, military issues, Afghanistan, this kind of thing?

Ambassador Mulford:  I do not think I can really answer that question, but I can point out to you that every day you see evidence of this broadening relationship.  You may have noticed that Jet Airways was cleared yesterday for services into the United States.  We had a major defense meeting the last few days here discussing military affairs, the many recent exchanges and joint exercises that we have had, areas of future cooperation with regard to the acquisition of weapon systems, and so on.  I do not think you have to look very far to see that the relationship is already there, but this has been regarded as rather a centerpiece of it over the past months that the negotiations have been going on -- rather a test case if you will -- to the realization of that vision, and I think that is what is really significant here.  It has been accomplished, and we now have to just take the final steps.

Thank you very much.