New Delhi: India and the US on Sunday broke the 7-year-old logjam in operationalising their landmark civil nuclear deal besides deciding to jointly produce military hardware including advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama. In what Obama called a "breakthrough", the two sides resolved key hurdles pertaining to the liability of suppliers of nuclear reactors in the event of an accident and the tracking of fuel supplied by the US. "We have broken the logjam of the past few years. We have reached an agreement. The deal is done," Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh announced after extended discussions between Obama and Modi lasting more than three hours, marked by great bonhomie.
The two countries renewed an enhanced Defence Framework Agreement for the next ten years and identified four key "pathfinder projects" for joint development and production including the next generation Raven mini UAVs and specialised kits for C-130 military transport aircraft. Both countries also agreed on a Working Group to explore aircraft carrier technology besides designing and development of jet engine technology. The warm relationship between Modi and Obama, meeting for the second time in four months, was on full display when they had a long stroll in the lawns of Hyderabad House where the Indian leader personally served tea to his guest while they were seated in the open. Modi good-humouredly refused later to disclose as to what they talked about. "Parde main rehne do (let it remain a secret)," he told reporters.
It was optics as much as substance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged President Barack Obama in his trademark 'chai pe charcha' (conversation over tea) in the afternoon and personally pouring the tea for his guest on the lawns of Hyderabad House. In the midst of serious discussions over nuclear deal and other issues, the two leaders went for a brief walk at the sprawling Hyderabad House lawns before settling in a special enclosure where they continued one-on-one talks over tea, reflecting the bonhomie between them. As they settled in their sofas, Modi poured tea for his guest in a cup and handed it to him. "Prime Minister Modi, thank you for hosting me, including our 'chai pe charcha'. We need more of those in the White House. But even as this visit is rich with symbolism, we made substantive progress," the US President said during his joint media interaction with Prime Minister Modi.
