Would See Deeper Cooperation With India On Nuclear Issues: United States

Washington: The United States would like to see "deeper bilateral cooperation" with India on nuclear issues, the White House has said, ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington this week which would be attended by world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We are certainly looking forward to Prime Minister Modi's visit (to attend the summit)," Laura Holgate, Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Terrorism and Threat Reduction, said.

"We are looking at this opportunity as a chance to highlight steps that India has taken in its own nuclear security to go beyond, perhaps, some of the activities that it has done before.

"We really would like to see even deeper bilateral cooperation with India proceed going forward out of the summit. So, I hope that will be something that we can work on more closely going forward," Ms Holgate told journalists at the Washington Foreign Press Centre.

In New Delhi before PM Modi's departure, a senior diplomat said that India expects that the summit would contribute further to raising high level awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism and the need to strengthen international cooperation against terrorists and nuclear traffickers.

"We also expect that the summit would help bolster legal, institutional and enforcement measures to strengthen the security of nuclear material, radioactive sources, associated facilities and technologies," said Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs).

"We also expect the summit to uphold confidence in the safe, secure and safeguarded extension on nuclear power which would be a critical requirement of reaching national and international goals on non-fossil fuel energy," he said.

India expects that those who have not done so would sign up to and implement the legally binding instruments related to nuclear security.

"The International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendment, and obligatory reporting under the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 which was adopted in 2004 and which has prohibitions and obligations related to non-state actors and export controls," Mr Gill added.

The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would lead the Indian delegation, is scheduled to arrive in Washington tomorrow.