India eager to obtain nuclear equipment from US companies

India hopes to start commercial negotiations with US companies soon on supply of nuclear equipment under the India-US civil nuclear deal, reported the Indo-Asian News Service on Thursday.

The news service quoted Indian Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar as saying that the nuclear deal is "both a symbol and instrument of transformation in India-US relations".

The envoy said in an address Tuesday on "Indo-US Relations: An Evolving Partnership" at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in the US capital that the growing defense cooperation between the two countries "also reflected deeper mutual trust", according to the report.

Defense trade between the two countries had rapidly risen to over 4 billion US dollars in the last few years with another 4 billion US dollars of deals expected to be signed.