India's Nuclear Agreement

[nitesh]

Seems like consensus is emerging

The Hindu : Front Page : NSG hopeful of consensus soon

According to a number of diplomats, the U.S. is expected to consult overnight with the handful of countries still holding out and then talk to the Indian side, which is also camped in Vienna, with a view to developing a new draft waiver by Friday. “The number of countries who favour this going through now is quite large, certainly more than before,” said a diplomat.

peaking to The Hindu earlier, a diplomat from a country which had raised strong objections before described the new draft as a “very disappointing text from the point of view of the three major issues raised last time on testing, transfer of sensitive technology and review.” The consultations formula on testing is “vague” and no attempt had been made to address the “sensitive technology” issue at all, he said, adding, “I don’t see how they expect us to accept this.”

But a diplomat from another country told this reporter that everyone in the NSG understood there could be no reference to testing in the waiver.

Indian officials were meeting with diplomats from four hold out countries - Austria, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland - at the time of going to press in order to see how the issue can be clinched this week itself. Indian officials say no one really favours a third meeting and that the time to settle things is now.

 

[nitesh]

guys seems like end of the road is near, the deal seems to be dead, but it makes clear that who was acting against it silently

The Hindu News Update Service

A lengthy meeting between the U.S. and the G-6 ended inconclusively late on Thursday night with the latter refusing to accept any dilution of their demands. "There are still very different views on both sides. We made some progress on minor issues but on the principal questions, there has been no movement", a diplomat from one of the six countries told The Hindu. "I can't see any way to bridge the divide", he added. "Not unless a major shift in position [by India and the U.S.] occurs".

utomatic cut-off of supplies in the event of India abandoning its moratorium on nuclear testing "has been our absolute bottom line from the beginning," said the diplomat, "and there is no question of it being dropped". At the same time, he conceded that more than India, it was the "big supplier nations" like Russia and France that were opposing automaticity of termination. "We know the U.S. is committed to terminating supplies [if India tests] but we don't want to leave the decision within the NSG to each individual PG [participating government]".

Noting that the six were receiving support from different countries on different issues, the diplomat described the position taken by China as "interesting". "After remaining silent all this time, the Chinese were quite active in the [plenary] room yesterday and not in a way that was helpful to the U.S. position [on the waiver]", he said.

On its part, the Indian delegation here acknowledged the going was tough to impossible. "If there is no agreement [Friday], I don't see much scope for this going into another round". "We are not talking about a third meeting. I don't think anybody is, because if it can't be done now, it can't be done then," official sources told The Hindu.

 

[nitesh]

now this is getting too interesting: like 20-20 match :

TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos -

Diplomatic sources in Vienna told TIMES NOW that they are confident of getting the deal through by the end of the NSG session today. Sources say that most of the anti-deal lobby has been won over and the only two countries still holding out are Austria and New Zealand. Other countries who had some objections have been won over.

 

[nitesh]

This is the latest development, deal seems in sight but let's wait and watch for final veredict

Latest developments on the NSG meet-India-The Times of India

NEW DELHI- According to TV channel TIMES NOW sources, a favourable decision is expected from the NSG meet today. NSG countries are believed to be not in favour of a third meeting.

Japan and China are said to be in favour of a consensus on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Diplomatic sources say only New Zealand is holding out against the deal.

The United States has put pressure on Austria to agree to the deal, sources have revealed.

 

[Marshal]

This is the latest development, deal seems in sight but let's wait and watch for final veredict

Yes.....and I think the pranab mukharji's symbolic statement indicates the same .........

 

[nitesh]

This is the latest development, deal seems in sight but let's wait and watch for final veredict

Yes.....and I think the pranab mukharji's symbolic statement indicates the same .........

Times now ticker says that the verdict will be today only, wait and watch

 

[Marshal]

This is the latest development, deal seems in sight but let's wait and watch for final veredict

Times now ticker says that the verdict will be today only, wait and watch

News: NSG, US, welcomed Pranab's Statement. US Govt. said that the clarification from Pranab Mukharji has helped in the NSG.........!!!!!!!!

 

[nitesh]

Here is the statement

Ministry of External Affairs, India

Statement by External Affairs Minister of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee on the Civil Nuclear Initiative
05/09/2008

To reiterate India’s stand on disarmament and nonproliferation, EAM has made the following statement:

A Plenary meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to consider an exception for India from its guidelines to allow for full civil nuclear cooperation with India is being held in Vienna from September 4 – 5, 2008.

India has a long-standing and steadfast commitment to universal, non-discriminatory and total elimination of nuclear weapons. The vision of a world free of nuclear weapons which Shri Rajiv Gandhi put before the UN in 1988 still has universal resonance.

We approach our dialogue with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and all its members in a spirit of cooperation that allows for an ongoing frank exchange of views on subjects of mutual interest and concern. Such a dialogue will strengthen our relationship in the years to come.

Our civil nuclear initiative will strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. India believes that the opening of full civil nuclear cooperation will be good for India and for the world. It will have a profound positive impact on global energy security and international efforts to combat climate change.

India has recently submitted a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament to the UN General Assembly, containing initiatives on nuclear disarmament. These include the reaffirmation of the unequivocal commitment of all nuclear weapon States to the goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons; negotiation of a Convention on the complete prohibition of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; and negotiation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons and on their destruction, leading to the global, non-discriminatory and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified timeframe.

We remain committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. We do not subscribe to any arms race, including a nuclear arms race. We have always tempered the exercise of our strategic autonomy with a sense of global responsibility. We affirm our policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.

We are committed to work with others towards the conclusion of a multilateral Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament that is universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable.

India has an impeccable non-proliferation record. We have in place an effective and comprehensive system of national export controls, which has been constantly updated to meet the highest international standards. This is manifested in the enactment of the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems Act in 2005. India has taken the necessary steps to secure nuclear materials and technology through comprehensive export control legislation and through harmonization and committing to adhere to Missile Technology Control Regime and Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines.

India will not be the source of proliferation of sensitive technologies, including enrichment and reprocessing transfers. We stand for the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime. We support international efforts to limit the spread of ENR equipment or technologies to states that do not have them. We will work together with the international community to advance our common objective of non-proliferation. In this regard, India is interested in participating as a supplier nation, particularly for Thorium-based fuel and in establishment of international fuel banks, which also benefit India.

India places great value on the role played by the IAEA’s nuclear safeguards system. We look forward to working with the IAEA in implementing the India-specific Safeguards Agreement concluded with the IAEA. In keeping with our commitment to sign and adhere to an Additional Protocol with respect to India’s civil nuclear facilities, we are working closely with the IAEA to ensure early conclusion of an Additional Protocol to the Safeguards Agreement.

New Delhi
5th September 2008

 

[nitesh]

guys situation is not good:

Nuclear group voices doubts about trade with India | International | Reuters

Rows over two other conditions had been resolved, another diplomat said, citing U.S. assurances the final draft would rule out transfers of fuel-enrichment technology that could be replicated for bomb-making, and provide for periodic reviews of Indian compliance with the waiver.

But, snagged over testing, a waiver deal looked elusive hours before the end of the two-day meeting. Another session later in September might be needed, diplomats said.

Washington and some allies assert the U.S.-India deal will move the world's largest democracy towards the non-proliferation mainstream and fight global warming by furthering the use of low-polluting nuclear energy in large developing economies.

NSG critics fear India could use access to nuclear material markets indirectly to boost its bomb program and drive nuclear rival and fellow NPT outsider Pakistan into another arms race.

I think if no enrichment tech the deal is dead

 

[Neo]

Consider it dead, bowing to NSG will be suicidal for any Indian govenment and the commies will be asking for Singhs blood.

 

[nitesh]

Consider is dead, bowing to NSG will be suicidal for any Indian govenment and the commies will be asking for Singhs blood.

Nope not only commies but that will not be good for indian sovereignty also. I consider it as good as dead, until some official news comes out

 

[Rohit]

Good that India is not bowing to pressure.

Our stand is clear,

1.we are against nuclear arms race.
2. There will be clear seperation between military and civilian nuclear installations.
3. The nuclear weapons are indigenous and technology obtained will not be used to produce enrighed uranium for nuclear weapons.
4. However, we reserve the right to test, as our enemies [Read China] have weapons several times larger than ours.

 

[indiapakistanfriendship]

Japan and China are said to be in favour of a consensus on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

China actually has lot to loose if the deal does not go through. What most people don't understand is that this deal will be very favourable for Chinese businesses. Guess who is emerging to be one of the largest suppliers of Gas turbines for power plants in India.

IPF

 

[nitesh]

some updates, it is clear now who is against it

India, U.S. chip away opposition to nuclear deal | Top News | Reuters

But others said later a bloc of six holdouts demanding a clause stipulating an automatic cessation of the waiver if India tested another weapon had been cut to four after Norway and Netherlands agreed to less precise language.

Only Ireland, Austria and New Zealand were sticking to a tough line on testing, they said. Whether Switzerland's stance had changed was not immediately clear.

The diplomat said the general consensus among U.S. and other diplomats was that "the three will come on board at some point". But China caused an additional complication when its delegation announced it needed to break and return to Beijing.

The diplomat said Washington wanted "to keep pushing along, using the clock as an ally to turn the three hold-outs, so the Chinese comment is problematic."

 

[Spring Onion]

Consultations on between India, US to agree on 'changed draft'

Indo-Asian News Service
Vienna, September 06, 2008
First Published: 11:15 IST(6/9/2008)
Last Updated: 11:44 IST(6/9/2008)

Print



Indian and the US officials were engaged in negotiations till late on Friday night to agree on the wordings in a 'changed draft' prepared by the US to find a consensus in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) for a "clean waiver" to India.

Most members of the NSG were, however, kept out of the negotiations as senior officials of the two countries entered into serious consultations to agree to the language and wordings in the 'changed draft'.

The negotiations between India and the US went on for nearly five hours as attempts were made to come to an agreement on the draft and get it approved by the NSG members. But till late night no agreement was reached.

Indications suggest that if negotiations prolong between the two sides, copies of the draft will be circulated among the NSG members later and only after the two sides agreed to the new wordings and language in them.

The possibility of the NSG members meeting informally on Sep 8 and later for yet another special session towards the third week of the month, to approve the draft and formally announcing its consensus decision on a India-specific waiver, is not ruled out.

The US came out with a 'changed draft' on Friday night to find the elusive consensus among 45-members of the NSG on a "clean waiver" to allow commerce between India and the powerful cartel that controls the global supply of nuclear fuel, equipments and technology.

Negotiations were on to reach an agreement on the draft to ensure it was acceptable to India as well as the NSG members.

Austria, Ireland and New Zealand, were the three countries in the 45-member Group that prevented a consensus from emerging in the Group on an India-specific waiver. They insisted that provisions be brought in the draft that will ensure that all commercial dealing with India will be stopped the moment it conducted another nuclear test.

The external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee issued a statement re-affirming India's commitment to a "voluntary moratorium" on further tests

"We remain committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. We do not subscribe to any arms race, including a nuclear arms race. We have always tempered the exercise of our strategic autonomy with a sense of global responsibility. We affirm our policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons," Mukherjee said in the statement.

Mukherjee stressed that "India is interested in participating as a supplier nation, particularly for Thorium-based fuel and in establishment of international fuel banks, which also benefit India."

He said, "India will not be the source of proliferation of sensitive technologies, including enrichment and reprocessing transfers. We stand for the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime. We support international efforts to limit the spread of ENR equipment or technologies to states that do not have them. We will work together with the international community to advance our common objective of non-proliferation."

The external affairs minister added, "India has an impeccable non-proliferation record. We have in place an effective and comprehensive system of national export controls, which has been constantly updated to meet the highest international standards."

Pranab Mukherjee's statement was made at a time when the NSG members were engaged in hectic consultations to iron out their differences on lifting the existing ban to start nuclear commerce with India.

The fact that it was aimed at skeptics in the NSG was clear from both the timing and the elaborate contents of the statement.

"It is a very significant statement and has created a positive momentum among the NSG members," US under secretary for arms control John Rood told reporters in the afternoon.

But Austria, Ireland and New Zealand continued to holdout and stressed that a more legal and binding commitment on future test was needed from India.

They insisted that the NSG must bring in provisions in the draft that will make it explicitly clear that all nuclear trade with India will be immediately halted if it conducted another test.

India had made it clear from the very beginning of the negotiations that it wanted a "clean waiver" from the NSG and will not accept any provisions that can be interpreted as intrusive and interfering with its sovereign rights.

The firm stand taken by India and the reluctance of the three NSG members to agree to anything short of an explicit provision terminating all trade with New Delhi in the event it conducted a nuclear test forced the US to prepare a "changed draft" that will be acceptable to all.

Nuclear supplier countries reconvene on US-India deal- Hindustan Times