By Xinhua,
Vienna : The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed Friday to sign a nuclear safeguards agreement with India, a move seen as giving the green light to India-U.S. nuclear cooperation.
The inspection deal, which allows the IAEA to monitor 14 existing or planned Indian nuclear reactors by 2014, is regarded as an important step in clearing a major obstacle to India’s legitimate import of nuclear fuel and technology from other nations, especially the United States.
Under an Indian-U.S. agreement signed in March 2006, as long as India separates its military and civilian nuclear facilities and agrees to supervision by the IAEA, it will be allowed to buy nuclear technology and nuclear fuel from the United States.
IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei expressed satisfaction with the result of eight months of negotiations between the UN nuclear watchdog and India, saying the decision not only satisfied India’s needs but also met all IAEA requirements.
“I believe the agreement is good for India, good for the world, good for nonproliferation … ” ElBaradei told reporters after the meeting.
The decision did not isolate India but create a new type of partnership with the country, he added.
India conducted its first nuclear test in May 1974 and so far has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The south Asian country, therefore, has been under a nuclear trade embargo, which the Nuclear Suppliers Group impose on countries who did not sign the NPT.
India’s top representative to the IAEA said the agreement means a lot to India and the world at large, adding that it could help India realize the goal of energy security and enable the country to contribute to improving global climate.
India hoped its agreement on nuclear cooperation with the United States could be approved by the U.S. Congress as soon as possible, he said.
Washington hailed the move as well. “We welcome the IAEA board of governors approval by consensus of the India safeguards agreement, paving the way for moving forward with the United States-India Civil Nuclear Initiative,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
Some experts, however, believe the IAEA approval of the deal indicated international recognition of India as one of the nuclear powers.
Critics argue the inspection deal could probably set a dangerous precedent as other countries which are in similar circumstances might demand the equivalent nuclear rights.
Moreover, the implementation of U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement breached the NPT, thus undermining international non-proliferation efforts, they said.
And Iran’s IAEA envoy, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh, accused the United States Friday of adopting double standard on nuclear energy.
The United States, on the one hand, bans Iran from developing nuclear energy, while on the other hand it trades with India, a non-NPT signatory, in nuclear fuel and technology, Soltanieh said in a statement.
The U.S. nuclear policy is undermining the credibility, integrity and universality of the NPT, said Soltanieh.