The outcome of talks on an agreement with the UN nuclear
watchdog on nuclear safeguards for India will be key to advancing
the India-US civilian nuclear cooperation deal, analysts said.
Experts from India and the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) have been meeting behind closed doors in Vienna on the pact
for the IAEA to monitor India's civilian nuclear reactors, a
prerequisite to move forward on the India-U.S. nuclear deal.
The deal, signed in March 2006 during a visit to India by U.S.
President George W. Bush, would give India access to U.S. nuclear
fuel and equipment in exchange for New Delhi's agreement to
separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities.
While India hopes to wrap up the talks as soon as possible this
year, diplomats here said the negotiations have not been proceeding
smoothly.
India wants an international guarantee on supplies of nuclear
fuel and has threatened to pull out from the safeguards pact if
fuel supplies are cut off.
Analysts said India fears the U.S. offer on nuclear energy
cooperation is fraught with intentions to control India's nuclear
capacity and include India in the U.S. weapons system to provide
business opportunities for U.S. arms producers.
The safeguards could also be used by the United States to curb
India's nuclear capacity should New Delhi turn defiant, they
said.
But a Vienna-based diplomat said the Indian demand for guarantee
on fuel supplies is unprecedented for the IAEA. It has gone beyond
the technical level and probably needs to be addressed on the
political level, the unidentified diplomat said.
On the other hand, India must also get clearance from the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which bans its members from
supplying nuclear fuel and technology to countries that are not
signatories to the non-proliferation treaty.
The United States, which sees the deal as the centerpiece of a
new relationship between Washington and New Delhi, is pushing for
an exception for India, which is not a signatory.
But the attempt has also drawn criticism for circumventing a
mechanism that is designed to prevent sensitive materials and
technologies from being exported to non-signatory countries.
Concessions would have to be made either by India or the IAEA to
clinch a pact on safeguards, observers said.
Even if the pact is sealed, the India-U.S. deal is still
controversial in both the United States and India and other issues
are yet to be settled before the deal goes ahead, they said.
The two sides are still divided over India's nuclear tests and
U.S. supplies of spent fuel reprocessing and reactor
technologies.
In India, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and leftist
parties view the deal as compromising India's sovereignty,
threatening to end support for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
ruling coalition.
The deal is also subject to congressional approval in the United
States, where critics say the Bush administration has made
excessive concessions and the deal will lead to a boost of India's
nuclear arms capabilities and weaken the international
non-proliferation regime.
Critics contend the deal sets a dangerous precedent and advocacy
groups have launched campaigns to block the deal.
(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2008)
