By IANS,
Chennai : Approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for India-specific safeguards and the clearance by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is “the passport for India” that will let the nation get into civil nuclear cooperation with all countries of the world, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Saturday.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Indian Statistical Institute’s new centre’s inauguration here, he said: “If we are being given India-specific safeguards it is because the international community recognises India as a developing country that has very high level of technological achievement”.
Mukherjee hoped that the country would “get the approval for India specific safeguards”, and added that India had done whatever was needed for this.
“I do not go by presumed time frames,” he told the media in response to a query on whether India would be able to meet the deadline to go to the US Congress with the nuclear deal before the end of the Bush government’s term ended.
Aug 1 has been fixed for the IAEA governing council to decide on the India specific safeguards. Mukherjee asserted that the IAEA and NSG clearance would allow India to have “bilateral civil nuclear agreements as and when” India needs this, with whichever country it needed to have such a cooperation with.