By IANS
New Delhi : India will hold the fourth round of talks on a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by the end of January, but it may not be possible to clinch a pact by that time as some issues like fuel guarantees are still to be resolved.
“Talks are on track. But a final decision on the fourth round of talks will be taken only after a review of the third round held recently,” S.K. Malhotra, the spokesperson of the department of atomic energy (DAE), told IANS from Mumbai.
The team of Indian negotiators led by Ravi Grover, director (strategic planning) in DAE, returned from Vienna after holding the third round of talks on India-specific safeguards with IAEA officials Monday.
“The delegation will file a report on the third round. The final decision on the shape of negotiations will be taken by (Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil) Kakodkar,” Malhotra added.
According to informed sources, the fourth round will be held by January-end. But some issues can take longer than expected and discussions may continue next month.
After the two sides finalise a draft safeguards pact, the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will submit it for scrutiny to the Left parties who will decide whether the government should go ahead with the nuclear deal.
India was hoping to conclude a pact with the IAEA by December-end. But the uniqueness and complexity of the India-specific safeguards, which has to acknowledge New Delhi’s separation of its civilian and military nuclear facilities, has delayed the pact.
The India-specific safeguards pact is expected to incorporate fuel supply guarantee, New Delhi’s right to build a strategic fuel reserve for the lifetime of its safeguarded nuclear reactors, and the right to reprocess spent fuel under a specially-built facility which will be placed under safeguards.
One issue that both sides are hoping to sort out at their next meeting is the specifics of the quantum of fuel that India would need for the lifetime of 14 civilian nuclear reactors it plans to place under safeguards over a period of time; also corrective measures it can take in case of the interruption of supply.
But even after the two sides agree to a draft pact, it will be the dynamics of India’s coalition politics that will ultimately determine the fate of the nuclear deal.
It’s only after the Left’s nod that the India-US nuclear deal can move on to the next two steps – a change in guidelines by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the ratification of the 123 India-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement by the US Congress required to make the nuclear deal operational.
However, with a recalcitrant Left in no mood to compromise, the nuclear deal appears doomed, especially with the approaching elections in the US later this year.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Sitaram Yechury recently presented stark choices to the UPA government. “There are three options before the government. The government stays on and no deal; no government but nuclear deal; and no government and no nuclear deal. It’s up to the government to decide.”