New Delhi, July 31: The government is engaged in a dialogue with the US to develop and expand Civilian Nuclearand Space Cooperation, Rajya Sabha was told today. The dialogue, initiated after the United States lifted sanctions in September 2001 which were imposed in May 1998, is predicated on India maintaining its indigenous nuclear weapons and missiles programmes, Minister of State for external affairs Digvijay Singh said in a written reply. The government has not requested the US assistance for setting up nuclear power plants, he said, adding India and the US have initiated five safety-related projects for safeguarded nuclear facilities. Exchange of visits of US and Indian Nuclear Regulatory Officials has also commenced, Singh said. The United States has offered to resume cooperation in space applications for sustainable development, weather research missions, tele-medicine, tele-education and disaster management, the minister said, adding joint workshops on civilian space applications and research have also started.

As part of the process of stimulating high technology commerce, including trade in `dual use` items, the two sides have established a bilateral high technology cooperation group, which held its first meeting in Washington early this month, Singh said.

Bureau Report