Obama in India: Chronology of the India-US nuclear deal

India and the US today broke the 7-year-old logjam in operationalising their landmark civil nuclear agreement with an announcement that “the deal is done” after talks between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi, Jan 25: India and the US today broke the 7-year-old logjam in operationalising their landmark civil nuclear agreement with an announcement that “the deal is done” after talks between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In what Obama called a “breakthrough”, the two sides have 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 and other countries for its proposed nuclear plants.

Following is a chronology of the India-US nuclear deal after the two countries today broke a seven-year logjam in operationalising the landmark civil nuclear agreement.

July, 2005: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush agree in principle to a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal, seeking to reverse US policy of opposing nuclear cooperation with India.

Oct, 2008: Bush signs legislation to enact the landmark US-India civilian nuclear agreement.

Oct, 2008: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice sign the deal.

Aug, 2008: International Atomic Energy Agency approves the safeguards agreement.

Sept., 2008: India is granted the waiver at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Austria.

Aug, 2010: Parliament passes the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, which allows the operator to sue the supplier in case of an accident, inviting protests from US companies.

Jan 25, 2015: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama announce a breakthrough to end the logjam over the operationalisation of the deal.