Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, addressing reporters in New Delhi, said China’s plans to build the reactors in Karachi ‘are matter of concern for India’. Asked if the matter would be discussed on 23 October when Manmohan Sigh holds talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, she declined to give a definite answer, adding she did not want to prejudge what the two prime ministers would discuss.
On the India-China boundary issue which had seen both sides in a standoff earlier this year when Chinese troops intruded into the Indian side in Ladakh, she said the two countries have had several rounds of talks on the subject and are discussing the ‘framework’ for modalities to reduce tensions.
She stressed that maintenance of peace and tranquility along the over 4,000 km boundary is an ‘important factor’ in India-China bilateral relations and form the ‘fundamental basis on which the rest of the bilateral relations can progress’.
The foreign secretary declined to say if the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement would be inked during the prime minister’s visit. The Cabinet Committee on Security had on Thursday approved the blueprint of the BDCA.
On PM’s Russia visit, Singh refused to go into details of any agreement or answer questions regarding the issue of nuclear liability for suppliers of equipment like reactors. ‘We hope to conclude specific contracts in the near future. Near future means near future. Let’s see. The companies are discussing issues - technical, legal and financial,’ she said in reply to a question whether a deal on setting up of two fresh reactors in the project would be signed during the visit and whether Russia’s concerns on nuclear liability issues have been resolved.
Singh said that the first unit of the project had attained criticality earlier this year and the second unit next year. ‘The companies are finalising documents,’ she said.
Government sources said India has outlined the insurance parameters like the quantum of risk involved for the Russian suppliers and other issues for clinching a deal Singh’s visit.
Russia and India have an inter-governmental agreement on the Kudankulam project and Moscow and individual Russian companies have concerns over the liability clause in the nuclear liability act in India.
On the India-China boundary issue which had seen both sides in a standoff earlier this year when Chinese troops intruded into the Indian side in Ladakh, she said the two countries have had several rounds of talks on the subject and are discussing the ‘framework’ for modalities to reduce tensions.
She stressed that maintenance of peace and tranquility along the over 4,000 km boundary is an ‘important factor’ in India-China bilateral relations and form the ‘fundamental basis on which the rest of the bilateral relations can progress’.
The foreign secretary declined to say if the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement would be inked during the prime minister’s visit. The Cabinet Committee on Security had on Thursday approved the blueprint of the BDCA.
On PM’s Russia visit, Singh refused to go into details of any agreement or answer questions regarding the issue of nuclear liability for suppliers of equipment like reactors. ‘We hope to conclude specific contracts in the near future. Near future means near future. Let’s see. The companies are discussing issues - technical, legal and financial,’ she said in reply to a question whether a deal on setting up of two fresh reactors in the project would be signed during the visit and whether Russia’s concerns on nuclear liability issues have been resolved.
Singh said that the first unit of the project had attained criticality earlier this year and the second unit next year. ‘The companies are finalising documents,’ she said.
Government sources said India has outlined the insurance parameters like the quantum of risk involved for the Russian suppliers and other issues for clinching a deal Singh’s visit.
Russia and India have an inter-governmental agreement on the Kudankulam project and Moscow and individual Russian companies have concerns over the liability clause in the nuclear liability act in India.