Obama and Modi announce breakthrough in nuclear deal

• US president terms breakthrough ‘an important step that shows how we can work together to elevate our relationship’
• Modi breaks protocol, hugs Obama on arrival in New Delhi

US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced they had reached an agreement Sunday to break the deadlock that has been stalling a civilian nuclear power agreement.

“I am pleased that six years after we signed our bilateral agreement, we are moving towards commercial cooperation, consistent with our laws [and] international legal obligations,” Modi said at a joint press conference with Obama in the Indian capital.

The two countries in 2008 signed a landmark deal giving India access to civilian nuclear technology, but it has been held up by US concerns over India’s strict laws on liability in the event of a nuclear accident.

While there were no immediate details on how the impasse had been broken, India has reportedly offered to set up an insurance pool to indemnify companies that build reactors in the country against liability in case of a nuclear accident.

“Today we achieved a breakthrough understanding on two issues that were holding up our ability to advance our civil nuclear cooperation and we are committed to moving towards full implementation,” said Obama.

“This is an important step that shows how we can work together to elevate our relationship.”

A bear hug to begin business:

US President Barack Obama landed in New Delhi Sunday for the start of a three-day visit to India, receiving a hug from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he disembarked from Air Force One.

According to protocol, the prime minister does not greet foreign leaders on their arrival, meeting them instead at a formal ceremony at the presidential palace.

Obama, who landed in the overcast capital at around 9:40am (0410 GMT), was accorded a red carpet welcome at the start of a visit which is seen as symbolising a new warmth in sometimes strained bilateral ties.

As Obama’s motorcade headed off for the welcome ceremony at the residence of President Pranab Mukherjee, the roads were lined with armed police and soldiers, part of a highly choreographed plan for the visit.

Up to 40,000 security personnel will deployed during the visit and 15,000 new closed-circuit surveillance cameras have been installed in the capital, according to media reports.

The United States views India as a vast market and potential counterweight to China’s assertiveness in Asia, but frequently grows frustrated with the slow pace of economic reforms and unwillingness to side with Washington in international affairs.

India would like to see a new US approach to Pakistan.

Obama, who is the first US president to travel to India twice while in office, will also be the chief guest at Monday’s Republic Day parade in the capital.

The visit, which follows a summit in Washington in September, comes less than a year since the Obama administration effectively ended its blacklisting of Modi.

The Hindu nationalist had been shunned by the United States and European Union following deadly communal riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002 while Modi was the chief minister.

In an interview ahead of his arrival, Obama hailed the “remarkable” rise of the 64-year-old Modi, the son of a tea-seller who was elected the leader last year of the world’s largest democracy.

Elected last May, Modi has injected a new vitality into the economy and foreign relations and, to Washington’s delight, begun pushing back against China’s growing presence in South Asia.

Annual bilateral trade of $100 billion is seen as vastly below potential and Washington wants it to grow fivefold.

Obama had been due to visit the Taj Mahal in the city of Agra on Tuesday, but he has scrapped that leg of his trip in order to attend the funeral of King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia.