India, US to start preparatory work on 6 reactors
WASHINGTON: India and the US agreed on Tuesday to begin preparatory work on building six nuclear reactors in India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Barack Obama, who backed New Delhi’s candidature for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
AP PHOTOPM Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama during a media interaction at the White House on Tuesday.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India and US firm Westinghouse will immediately begin engineering and site design work for the AP1000 nuclear reactors and conclude contractual arrangements by June 2017.
Obama and Modi welcomed the start of the preparatory work on the reactors, a key step towards closing the first deal based on the landmark US-India civil nuclear deal struck more than a decade ago. India and the US ExportImport Bank will work together on a competitive financing package for the project, the two leaders said in a joint statement. The project will be among the largest of its kind when it is completed and it will fulfil the promise of the civil nuclear agreement.
Addressing the media with Modi after their talks at the White House that lasted more than an hour, Obama backed India’s entry into the NSG.
India makes it into missile tech group
NEW DELHI: Members of the Missile Technology Control Regime, an international anti-proliferation grouping, have agreed to admit India, diplomats said, in a win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Diplomats with direct knowledge of the matter said a deadline for members of the 34-nation group to object to India’s admission had expired on Monday without any objections.
Under this ‘silent procedure’, India’s admission follows automatically, diplomats from four member nations said.
Admission to the MTCR would open the way for India to buy high-end missile technology, also making more realistic its aspiration to buy surveillance drones such as the Predator, made by General Atomics. See page 9
PM Modi lays wreath, pays homage to Kalpana Chawla
HOLDS INTERACTION WITH CHAWLA’S HUSBAND, FAMILY MEMBERS, ASTRONAUT SUNITA WILLIAMS
From page 01 WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid a wreath at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers and paid homage to late Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla at Arlington National Cemetery here.
PTI PHOTOPrime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage at the Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington on Monday.
“Honouring sacrifice, saluting valour. Formal engagements begin with a solemn ceremony,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
“In homage to heroism and indomitable courage,” Swarup said in another tweet.
Modi also had a brief interaction with the husband and family members of Chawla, senior officials from Nasa, IndianAmerican astronaut Sunita Williams and her father at Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial.
“All of us are very honoured that he took time to come and acknowledge the shuttle catastrophe and the deep cooperation that we have with India in the space world,” Williams said. “Personally it is commemorating my friend (Kalpana Chawla),” she said.
Modi spoke to Sunita’s father in Gujarati and invited them to visit India. “With health permitting, I definitely look forward to visiting India,” her father said.
Chawla’s husband JeanPierre Harrison presented a set of books on the late astronaut, including a biography written by him, to Modi.
The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who died without their remains being identified.
Japan backs India’s bid for NSG entry
NEW DELHI: It is a major shot in India’s arm. Japan on Tuesday strongly supported India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and said it was working with the Indian government to garner support from other countries ahead of the bloc’s crucial plenary meetings on June 9 in Vienna and June 24 in Seoul.
“I hope that India will be the part of the NSG. Japan is working with India to make sure that it becomes a member of the NSG. We are talking to the Indian government on how it can get more support from other countries,” Japan’s envoy to India Kenji Hiramatsu said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would pay a visit to Japan this year, the envoy said, adding that no date has yet been finalised. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had visited India in December last year for the annual summit.