US-India

Clinton strives for arms deal with New Delhi

Article published on the 2009-07-20 Latest update 2009-07-20 14:09 TU

Hillary Clinton during her official visit to India.
(Photo: Reuters)

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is in India for talks to negotiate a defence pact to boost the sale of US arms to the subcontinent. Her visit should also see an agreement on the location of two nuclear reactors to be built by the US. Also on the agenda is climate change - a sensitive subject between the two countries.

The talks are aimed at deepening strategic US ties with India, an emerging player on the world stage. As part of her five-day tour, Clinton will meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister SM Krishna.

Washington is also hopeful of sealing a key accord on "end-use monitoring" that would provide safeguards for the sale of highly sophisticated US weaponry.

India is expected to announce proposed sites for the building of two multi-billion dollar US nuclear power plants. This comes after last year’s landmark civilian nuclear deal reached with India by former US president George W. Bush.

The civilian and military nuclear capabilities had to be separated, however, according to Marie Lall, South Asia specialist at the University of London. She told RFI that the deal is palatable to India because civilian nuclear facilities would be inspected by the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but military bases would not be.

"Many people in the Obama administration were against the civilian nuclear deal because they said, 'how are we ever going to check that there is not going to be this transfer of technology from criminal to military bases?'," said Lall.  

The deal represents a significant opportunity for American companies, and opens up as much as 10 billion dollars worth of exports to India.

Clinton has also vowed to pursue dialogue on the sensitive subject of global climate change. On Sunday, she met briefly with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to discuss divisions between Washington and New Delhi on the issue.

Like fellow developing heavyweight China, India has refused to commit to emission cuts until developed nations present sufficient targets of their own.