Outgoing United States (US) National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan, who is on a visit to India, said on Monday (Jan 6) that Washington was finalising the necessary steps to remove the long-standing regulations that prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India's leading nuclear entities and American companies.

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Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, US NSA Sullivan said, "Although former president Bush and former PM Dr Manmohan Singh laid out a vision of civil nuclear cooperation nearly 20 years ago, we have yet to fully realise it."

"But as we work to build clean energy technologies to enable growth in artificial intelligence, and to help US and Indian energy companies unlock their innovation potential, the Biden administration has determined that it is past time to take the next major step in cementing this partnership," he added.

An opportunity...

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Announcing the achievement of civil nuclear cooperation between India and the US, Sullivan told reporters that the formal paperwork would be done soon. 

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"...this will be an opportunity to turn the page on some of the frictions of the past and create opportunities for entities that have been on restricted lists in the United States to come off those lists and enter into deep collaboration with the United States, with our private sector, scientists and technologists to move civil nuclear cooperation forward together...," the outgoing NSA added. 

'Doval and I developed deep personal and professional relationship'

During the press conference, Jake Sullivan talked about his relationship with Indian NSA Ajit Doval. 

"...One person in particular that I would like to recognise is my counterpart the Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval because it was in part his vision that technology and particularly advanced technologies of the future would be a propellant for the US-India relationship in a way that could take our two countries forward, advance our respective interests, protect our respective values and build a better world for everybody and through this partnership," Sullivan added.

Sullivan pointed out over the last four years, and he and Doval developed a "deep personal and professional relationship."

This relationship, Sullivan said, played a critical role in ensuring that the US-India partnership reached the new high that he mentioned before. 

Sullivan calls on Indian PM Modi

Later in the day, Sullivan called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a post on X, Modi said that it was a pleasure to meet the US NSA.

"The India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership has scaled new heights, including in the areas of technology, defence, space, biotechnology and Artificial Intelligence. Look forward to building upon this momentum in ties between our two democracies for the benefit of our people and global good," Modi said.