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India, US enhance bilateral ties through six pacts | India and United States on Monday took further
steps to enhance their bilateral and strategic partnership by signing six agreements.
The pacts included two agreements and four memorandum of understanding. The
first
agreement that was signed was for the setting up of a joint clean energy research
and development center in New Delhi. Dr. M.K. Bhan, Secretary, Department of
Biotechnology
signed it, from the Indian side, and US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer from
the American side. The agreement will be valid for ten years and renewed for five
years thereafter. Once established, the center will be tasked with the responsibility
of conducting joint research and development and deployment for clean energy
technologies.
Initial priority areas to be addressed would be solar energy, second-generation
bio-fuels and building efficiency. The center will involve the active participation
of academic and private sectors of both countries, who, will work in consortia
mode. The second agreement signed was for technical cooperation for the study
of dynamical seasonal prediction of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. The Indian
Ministry of Earth Sciences and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
(NOAA) of the United States signed the agreement. Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary,
Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the NOAA,
signed the pact on behalf of their respective countries. The validity of the agreement
is of five years, and will deliver a useful coupled ocean-atmospheric general
circulation model to predict the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Under the
agreement,
a "Monsoon desk" will be set up at National Centers for Environmental Prediction
(NCEP) of the NOAA to focus on and coordinate all activities for India 's
monsoon-related
work, including the "Monsoon Mission". Officials of the two sides also signed
four Memoranda of Understanding. They included: (1) An MOU for cooperation in
setting up a Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership Dr. Srikumar Banerjee,
Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and US Ambassador to India Timothy
Roemer
signed the MOU on behalf of their respective countries. Under this agreement,
India and the United States have said they would like to promote cooperation on
initiatives aimed at strengthening global nuclear security and addressing threats
of nuclear terrorism. The agreement, with a validity of ten years, also calls
for cooperation on programs for capacity building in technology, human resource
development, education and training, besides giving impetus to research and
development
in nuclear science and technology in these areas. (2) An MOU to establish a
India-US
Energy Cooperation Program The Planning Commission and ministries dealing with
the energy sector, the US Trade and Development Agency and the US Department
of
Commerce will be the nodal agencies responsible for the implementation of this
MOU. Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission
of
India, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak
signed
the MOU. Its validity lasts till either India or the US decide to opt out. It
has three salient features namely (a) To promote use of clean energy and energy
efficiency businesses (b) To mobilize private sector expertise and resources on
energy-related issues in both India and the United States and (c) To fund studies
and related project development work on clean and efficient energy best practices.
(3) An MOU on Shale Gas Resources The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
through
the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and the US State Department are the
nodal
agencies responsible for implementation of this agreement. Sudhir Bhargava,
Additional
Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Dr. david Goldwyn,
Coordinator
(International Energy Affairs) in the US State Department, were the signatories
to this MOU, which is open-ended and can be discontinued by either participant.
This too has three salient features namely (a) Cooperation in assessing shale
gas resources in Indian basins (b) Cooperation in technical studies and training
of Indian personnel for assessing shale gas resources and (c) US Geological Survey
will carry out studies on shale gas resources and provide a report to the Indian
side. (4) An MOU for the establishment and operation of a Global Disease Detection
Center in India The National Center for Disease Control, Delhi and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta , Georgia , will be the nodal agencies
monitoring implementation of this MOU. Dr. L.S. Chauhan, Director (NCDC) and
his
US counterpart signed the agreement on behalf of the two countries. It has a validity
of five years. It has five salient features namely (a) Development of human resources,
both in epidemiology and laboratory (b) Sharing best practices for detection and
response to emerging infections, wherever required (c) Advanced training in field
epidemiology (d) Surveillance for emerging infectious diseases, international
health and mentoring of public health professionals and (e) Building laboratory
capacity in India for diagnosis of emerging infectious diseases.
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