United States Reaffirms Its Support For India’s Entry Into Crucial Nuclear Suppliers Group

The US has reaffirmed its support for India’s participation in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and pledged to continue working with like-minded allies to achieve this goal.

In a joint statement issued by the United States and India, US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the critical role of nuclear energy in global decarbonization efforts and affirmed nuclear energy as a necessary resource to address the nations’ climate, energy transition, and energy security needs.

The two leaders discussed the continued cooperation development of next-generation compact modular reactor technologies for the home and export markets.

In a joint statement, India and the US stated, “President Biden and Prime Minister Modi underscored the important role nuclear energy plays in global decarbonization efforts and affirmed nuclear energy as a necessary resource to meet our nation’s climate, energy transition, and energy security needs. The leaders noted ongoing negotiations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India”.

“They welcomed intensified consultations between the US DOE (Department of Energy) and India’s DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) for facilitating opportunities for WEC to develop a techno-commercial offer for the Kovvada nuclear project (in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam)”, the statement reads.

“They also noted the ongoing discussion on developing next-generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode for the domestic market as well as for export”, the statement continued.

“The United States reaffirms its support for India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and commits to continue engagement with like-minded partners to advance this goal”, the statement added.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that attempts to contribute to nuclear non-proliferation by implementing two sets of standards for nuclear and nuclear-related exports. According to the NSG’s official statement, the NSG was established in 1974 following the explosion of a nuclear device by a non-nuclear-weapon state.

The NSG guidelines include the so-called Non-Proliferation Principle, which was adopted in 1994, and state that a supplier may sanction a transfer only if he or she is confident that it would not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The NSG standards are consistent with the numerous international legally binding nuclear non-proliferation instruments.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group now has 48 members, which include Argentina, Cyprus, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Norway, and Spain. Austria, Denmark, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Switzerland Belgium, Finland, Latvia, Romania, Turkey, Brazil, France, Lithuania, South Korea, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Germany, Luxembourg, Russia, UK, Canada, Greece, Malta, Serbia, US, China, Hungary, Mexico, Slovakia, Croatia, Iceland, Netherlands, and Slovenia.

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