Promising to provide a level playing field to US companies on civilian nuclear deal, the visiting Foreign Secretary, Mr Ranjan Mathai, has said India is willing to address their specific concerns within the framework of the law in this regard passed by the Parliament.

“We will provide a level playing field to US companies, and are prepared to address specific concerns of US companies within the framework of that law,” Mr Mathai said in his address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“We have the reality of our law passed by our Parliament,” Mr Mathai said in his remarks on “Building on Convergence: Deepening the India-US Strategic Partnership” at the eminent Washington-based think tank.

India and the US, he said, have remained engaged and must now take practical steps to advance this cooperation, as they have done over the past year.

“We have just had a round of discussions between our legal experts. The commencement of discussions between the Indian operator, NPCIL, and US companies in regard to an Early Works Agreement is an encouraging development,” said Mr Mathai, who is currently on his first visit to America after assuming the charge last year.

Referring to the statement of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, he said the India-US civil nuclear initiative is a symbol, instrument and platform of a transformed India-US relationship.

“We are committed to translating the success of our diplomatic partnership in changing the global nuclear order into an equally productive commercial cooperation in civil nuclear energy,” he said.

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