A US official on Wednesday expressed his unhappiness with the civil nuclear liability bill passed by the Indian parliament, saying New Delhi should ensure the legislation is consistent with international norms.

Robert Hormats, under secretary for economics, energy and agriculture affairs, was commenting a day after another US official, White House chief technology officer Aneesh Choprasought to downplay US suppliers' criticismof the nuclear bill.

“India has to make its own decision, but in making decisions it will be wise for India to look at practises of 29 other countries and ensure its regulations and its laws are consistent with international norms,” Hormats said while delivering a lecture on the Indo-US bilateral economic relationship in New Delhi.

He also added, “India understands this issue but has to make its own decision. It would be interesting to see how India follows up on this issue.”

Hormats said the US government, American and foreign companies have raised issues related to the bill in its current form.

Chopra said in New Delhi on Tuesday, “Nobody is right or wrong, each side needs to have its voice heard and make progress. I am confident that the issues will be resolved because good people sit around table and move things.”

The civil nuclear liability bill was passed in parliament last month which places liability claims on suppliers in case of a nuclear accident.

Hormats' visit to India is part of the exchange of delegations between the two countries to lay out the agenda for Barack Obama's India visit in November.

He also said that food security, agriculture and technology are important aspects of partnership between the two nations. “In the 21st century, there are new set of challenges in the agriculture sector. It is time to start initiatives for the second green revolution,” Hormats added.

He also took a leaf out of UPA’s 'aam aadmi' agenda as he talked about sharing technological benefits with the common man. “We will harness the technology that will improve agriculture for Indian farmers. By sharing expertise, we can once again develop mutual and resources that will benefit aam aadmi (common man).”

On Tuesday, Hormats along with other officials had discussion with foreign secretary Nirupma Rao in New Delhi. “Both sides deliberated on strategic cooperation in agriculture and food security, food processing, farm-to-market linkages and agricultural extension and crop and weather forecasting,” he added.

This was the first meeting of the US-India Agriculture Dialogue steering committee.