IAEA Consensus On Safeguards

By securing a unanimous approval at the IAEA,India has cleared the first big hurdle to the Big Deal. Action now shifts to the NSG,where India will be pushing for a waiver

Our Political Bureau NEW DELHI

IN A significant vote of confidence for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the IAEA board of governors on Friday passed the India-specific safeguards agreement by consensus, allowing India to take the next step of seeking a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver.

Press Trust Of India / Colombo August 2, 2008, 0:47 IST

India is not satisfied with the draft prepared by the US for consideration of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) and is pressing for modifications to ensure a "clean' and "unconditional' waiver from the 45-nation grouping.

Suggesting that the draft contained some conditionalities, officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here for the SAARC Summit said India could not accept any conditions put by the NSG.

INDIA A STEP CLOSER TO ENDING NUCLEAR APARTHEID
Bs Reporter / New Delhi/vienna August 2, 2008, 0:29 IST

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors today approved by consensus a nuclear safeguards agreement with India, calling for the application of IAEA safeguards to Indian civilian nuclear facilities.

ADAY before the crucial IAEA board of governors meeting to consider the India-specific safeguards agreement, the government remained optimistic that the agreement would get the IAEA nod.

In spite of hiccups, including Pakistan's dissent note, New Delhi is confident that the IAEA board of governors would approve the safeguard agreement without a vote.

Saibal Dasgupta | TNN

Beijing: Prithviraj Chauhan, the Prime Minister's envoy on nuclear issue, spent an hour with Dai Bingguo, the state councilor and chief political adviser to the Chinese government on Tuesday, trying to sell India's nuclear case. But the Chinese leadership made it apparent that it will keep its cards close to its chest.

NEW DELHI, JULY 29: Picking up on the momentum gathered after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won the trust vote last week, India and US have exchanged drafts of the "clean' exemption that Washington plans to circulate in the Nuclear Suppliers Group as soon as possible after the August 1 meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors. The draft makes no mention of either CTBT or testing.

CARTOON

Siddharth Varadarajan

Siddharth Varadarajan

May move amendments to draft in Board meeting

New Delhi: In a four-page letter addressed to Board members of the IAEA, Pakistan has attacked the draft Indian safeguards agreement for envisaging termination conditions and fuel supply arrangements which could allow India to "divert part of [any imported] fuel for weapons purposes.'

At the same time, it said that the Indian model should not be "discriminatory' and should be applied to states such as itself.

PUTTING the nuclear deal negotiations on the fast track the US said it was planning to seek a meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in the second week of August and send the nuclear deal to the US Congress by early September. This comes a day after Mr Manmohan Singh removed the domestic political hurdles to the deal.