Trump's law pushes India to align nuclear liability rules globally
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2026 into law on December 19, 2025. The NDAA was signed in December 2025 for the fiscal year 2026 and mandates the US Secretary of State to work with India to align its domestic nuclear liability rules with international standards. This comes just after India's Parliament passed the SHANTI Bill, which caps operator liability for nuclear incidents at ₹3,000 crore and encourages private participation in the sector.
Legislative changes
SHANTI Bill repeals previous nuclear legislation
The SHANTI Bill repeals the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010. The bill aligns India with international conventions on nuclear damage liability. Despite opposition in Parliament that appealed for a referral to a joint parliamentary panel for greater scrutiny, it was passed to facilitate foreign investment and technology transfer into India's nuclear sector, resulting in an opposition walkout.
Historical note
NDAA 2026's unique mention of India
While the NDAA is presented every year, 2026 is possibly the first instance since 2016 that India has been specifically mentioned in relation to the 2008 Indo-US nuclear deal and nuclear civil liability rules. The act establishes a joint consultative mechanism within the US-India Strategic Security Dialogue to review the implementation of this agreement.
Political backlash
Opposition criticizes government's alignment with US
The opposition has slammed the government for aligning India's nuclear liability rules with those of the US, labeling it "vendor-driven." Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pushing through the SHANTI Bill to restore relations with Trump. He suggested that "The SHANTI Act may well be called the TRUMP Act - The Reactor Use and Management Promise Act."