NEW DELHI, March 25 (UPI) -- India is preparing for talks with the United States to finalize a bilateral civil agreement to govern future nuclear issues between the two countries.
The Indo-Asian News Service reported that crucial issues like nuclear testing, the production of fissile materials, the reprocessing of spent fuel and India's safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency will be on the agenda.
India and the United States are expected to build on the finalization of a large part of the text for the "123" agreement -- named after Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act -- that will have to be approved by the U.S. Congress before it goes into operation, the report said.
As part of the talks, set to begin Monday, India is expected to remind the United States about the "full civilian nuclear cooperation" it was promised in a July 18, 2005, civil nuclear deal.
The U.S. team, led by Richard Stratford, director of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security in the State Department, will hold talks with the Indian delegation led by Gayatri Kumar, a joint secretary in the external affairs ministry.
