As he prepares to meet President Barack Obama in Washington, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hopes the US will be "more liberal" in transferring technologies to India and clear the way for implementing the landmark agreement on nuclear cooperation.
Singh, who leaves for Washington on Saturday, gave enough indications in an interview to The Washington Post that nuclear cooperation would be high on his agenda during talks with Obama.
"We have a landmark agreement with the US on nuclear cooperation. We would like to operationalize it and ensure that the objectives for the nuclear deal are realised in full," he said.
Singh said the restrictions on technology transfers to India "make no sense" since the country has an impeccable record of non-proliferation.
"My hope is that we can persuade the US administration to be more liberal when it comes to transferring technologies to us. The restrictions make no sense. India has an impeccable record of not participating in any proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. So that's my number one concern," he said.
Top Indian and US officials are holding hectic parleys to conclude a deal on reprocessing of spent fuel before the November 24 Singh-Obama meeting.
The US side is insisting on an assurance from India on nuclear non-proliferation, a sticking point in clearing the way for nuclear commerce. PTI
