Obama backs Indian nuclear membership

US President Barack Obama has backed India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCG) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a joint meeting of Congress after years of being shunned in Washington over religious violence in his home state.
A White House meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday consolidated the strong bilateral ties but was short on major outcomes. 
India, the world’s third-largest carbon emitter among nations, said it would strive to formally join a global climate deal this year — as the US and China have said they will do — but it gave no ironclad commitment.
There was also some progress on a landmark civilian nuclear agreement between the US and India that was reached in 2008. 
The two governments said that US-based Westinghouse Electric Co. is preparing to build six nuclear reactors in India, but it has yet to finalize a contract.
Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who recently visited India, said the congressional address and Modi’s meetings with lawmakers will carry an important message. “It’s basically two friends, the United States and India, the two largest democracies in the world, getting together to show that our relationship is getting stronger,” he said.
But there’s also a sense in Congress that the relationship has yet to deliver on its promise and some lawmakers have criticized the Modi government’s record on religious tolerance and combating human trafficking and slavery.
Modi is seen as a pro-business leader. There’s been some easing of foreign investment restrictions, and trade has grown at a fair clip in recent years, but lawmakers have complained about continuing bureaucratic hurdles and investment limits and over the halting pace of liberalization in India.

Source: Arab News