By Manish Chand
On Board PM’s Special Aircraft, Nov 21 (IANS) India and the US are set to announce the conclusion of a crucial pact on reprocessing spent fuel, that marks the final stage of their landmark nuclear deal, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with US President Barack Obama.

“We hope that before the joint statement is completed, it will be done,” official sources said. There are only one and a half steps left, sources said.

“We are finalizing the last stage of the nuclear deal. What we are looking for upfront reprocessing rights,” the sources added.

A team of senior nuclear officials led by R.B. Grover, head (technical) in the department of atomic energy, began a final round of talks with an American team headed by Richard Stratford, the US pointsperson for reprocessing negotiations, in Washington Friday.

If there are any lingering issues left, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will be in Washington Sunday to give a final push to the reprocessing agreement that will pave the way for the beginning of atomic trade between the two countries.

Under the 123 bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement inked by India and the US last year, the two sides had agreed to conclude an agreement for the finalisation of arrangements and procedures for India to reprocess spent fuel under a dedicated national facility under international safeguards.

The conclusion of the reprocessing pact, a key US commitment under the 123 agreement, will finally set anxieties in India at rest about the commitment of the Obama administration, which has an activist stance on nonproliferation issues, to the nuclear deal which formed the showpiece of the India-US engagement during the Bush administration.

With the reprocessing deal out of the way, the only step left to operationalise the nuclear deal will be the approval of a civil liability legislation by India that seeks to limit compensation by American nuclear companies operating in India in case of nuclear accidents.

The cabinet has cleared civil liability legislation. “It should be passed in the Winter Session of parliament,” sources said.