Nuclear Suppliers to Defer Decision on Indian Deal

The U.S.-Indian nuclear deal will not be ready for discussion at next month’s annual meeting of nuclear exporting nations, the Times of India reported yesterday (see GSN, March 9).

The agreement to sell nuclear power technology to India, despite New Delhi’s refusal to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, requires changes to U.S. and international export control rules.  The U.S. Congress approved initial changes last year, but the international Nuclear Suppliers Group has not yet formally addressed the question.

The group is waiting for U.S. and Indian officials to complete an agreement detailing precisely the technologies India would buy from U.S. firms.  Also in the wings is an agreement for the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor activities at Indian sites that New Delhi deems peaceful.

Neither the detailed agreement nor the agency safeguards agreement is close to completion, according to the Times.

Indian officials are hoping to begin talks with their U.S. counterparts this month, the Times reported, but little progress has been made with the agency, according to IAEA spokesman Peter Rickwood (Indrani Bagchi, Times of India, March 11).

Meanwhile, NSG member Japan has indicated it would wait for India to finalize the terms of the U.S. deal and the IAEA safeguards agreement before approving changes to international export rules, the Indo-Asian News Service reported yesterday.

“There are positive advantages of taking India into the global nuclear mainstream,” Japanese Ambassador to India Yasukuni Enoki said.  “But then there are consequences of giving an exception to India which will cause a loophole in the NPT” (Indo-Asian News Service/Yahoo!News, March 11).

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