PM Modi, President Obama to Discuss Nuclear Deal During a Walk and Talk: Sources

New Delhi: US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, in a separate "one-on-one" walk at Delhi's Hyderabad House on Sunday, discuss the nuclear deal, which has been stalled since 2008, say sources.

NDTV has learnt that there has been significant progress on the nuclear deal. Sources say India is "optimistic" about the possibility of an agreement when the two leaders meet. The final push has to be given by PM Modi and President Obama, they said.

Barring any last minute differences, this could be a key breakthrough, said sources.

Ahead of President Obama's visit, the main stumbling block has not just been the liability issue, where US companies have concerns about having to pay up huge amounts in case of an accident, but also America's insistence on "flagging" or tracking the nuclear material they supply to India.
 
The US wants to track the whereabouts of material they supply, which is required under its rules. But India says the demand is intrusive, especially in view of the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, which are in place.

The implementation of the India-US nuclear deal, worked out during the UPA government's first term, headed by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, had been stalled over the tough provisions in India's Civil Nuclear Liability Act.

During his visit to the US in September, PM Modi and President Obama had decided to set up a high-level Contact Group on civil nuclear cooperation.

The group has held three rounds of detailed discussions on a range of implementation issues - administrative, liability, technical and licensing - to facilitate the establishment of US-designed nuclear power plants in India.