The India-US Forum of Parliamentarians (IUFP) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organized an interactive meeting with the delegation members of the visiting US-India Business Council (USIBC) Commercial Nuclear Mission to India on Monday, January 12, 2009, at Federation House.

Indian Members of Parliament present at the meeting included Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Indian National Congress), Dr. E.M.S. Natchiappan (Indian National Congress), and Ms. Mabel Rebello (Indian National Congress).

The 50 member strong nuclear mission to India included Mr. Tim Richards, Director, International Energy Policy, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy; Mr. Timothy Gilman, Senior Advisor for Commercial and Business Affairs, US Department of State; Mr. Tom Cutler, Foreign Affairs Officer and Mr. Robert Boudreau, Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy; Ms. Sarah Lopp, Energy Analyst, US Department of Commerce; Ms. Lisa Steward, Senior Director and Corporate Secretary, Nuclear Energy Institute; Mr. Ronald Denom, President, SNC-Lavalin International Inc.; Mr. Dennis Hays, Vice President, Thorium Power, Ltd; Mr. Gene Clark, Chief Executive Officer, TradeTech; Mr. Ed Wolbert, President and Chief Executive Officer, Transco Products Inc.; and Mr. Robert Pearce, Director, Global Business Development, Westinghouse Electric Company among others.

The Indian Industry was represented by Mr. P.K. Agarwal, General Manager (Marketing), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.; Mr M K Sharma, AGM (Marketing), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.; Mr G B Nayak, Associate Vice President - Nuclear Business, GMR Energy Ltd; Mr. Anil V Parab, General Manager - Nuclear Equipment, Larsen & Toubro Ltd.; Mr G R Srinivasan, Advisor, Nuclear Power Business, GMR Energy Ltd; Mr. S.A. Bohra Advisor, Tata Power Co. Ltd.; and Mr Kapil Mantri, Executive Officer to Mr Naveen Jindal, Jindal Steel & Power Limited.

Former Indian ambassadors who attended the session included Amb. Lalit Mansingh, Amb. T.C.A. Rangachari; Amb. Kanwal Sibal; and Amb. Krishna V. Rajan.

Prominent representatives from leading Indian think-tanks included Vice Admiral (Retd) K K Nayyar, PVSM, AVSM, President, National Maritime Foundation; Maj Gen (Retd) Deepankar Banerjee, Director, Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies; Commodore (Retd) C Uday Bhaskar, Independent Security Analyst, Former Director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis; Lt Gen (Retd) V. R Raghavan, Advisor, Delhi Policy Group; Dr Charan Wadhva, Professor Emeritus and Former President and Chief Executive and Research Professor, Centre for Policy Research (CPR); and Mr Rajiv Nayan, Research Officer, The Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis.

The meeting provided an excellent platform for discussing some of the remaining obstacles to commercial nuclear trade and determining whether and when India adopts a civil liability regime (essential to private-public sector participation) and amendments to India's Atomic Energy Act.