The Promised Purchases, The Nuclear Breakthrough

A US-India joint statement highlighted multiple areas of cooperation between the countries

- Prashant Jha

Nothing symbolized the importance of energy in the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump than the seating in the Oval Office on Thursday evening.

On the left of Trump were three cabinet members. Among them, two dealt with energy: secretary of interior and chair of Trump's energy council, Doug Burgum; and secretary of energy, Chris Wright. And nothing symbolized the intertwined connections of the energy barons and the energy policy world in Trump world than Wright, who served as CEO of North America's second largest hydraulic fracking company and on the board of a small modular reactor company before his current role.

If there was any doubt what it all meant, Trump made it clear at the press conference with Modi.

He complained about not having a level playing field on trade in India, claimed that the US can make up with the sale of oil and gas, spoke about an agreement on energy that would "restore the US as leading supplier of oil and gas" to India, and mentioned India's intent to reform laws to welcome US nuclear technology-all of which would bring billions to US companies.