By IANS,
New Delhi : A group of key officials worked behind the scene to ensure that doors of global civil nuclear commerce were re-opened for India. They are:
Shyam Saran, prime minister’s special envoy on India-US nuclear deal
He was foreign secretary when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush first announced civil nuclear cooperation initiative July 18, 2005. He has been the chief interlocutor on the nuclear deal from the Indian side and has remained deeply involved in its journey ever since.
Shivshankar Menon, foreign secretary
Menon took over as foreign secretary at the crucial time when the both houses of the US Congress were debating the provisions of what was to be Hyde Act, which was finally passed in December 2006. He has also been instrumental in finalising the draft of the 123 agreement – the bilateral pact that will operationalise the deal.
Anil Kakodkar, Atomic Energy Commission chairman
As the representative of the nuclear scientist community and also secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Kakodkar’s stance had been crucial at various stages of the deal, especially to fight off its critics.
M.K. Narayanan, national security advisor
His role was to act as the devil’s advocate, going through the various drafts with a tooth-comb. He got a more prominent part in the process, overshadowing Shyam Saran after March 2007.
Ronen Sen, India’s ambassador to the US
As India’s envoy in Washignton, Sen has made critical contributions to the bilateral negotiations.
S. Jaishankar, Indian ambassador to Singapore
As joint secretary (Americas) in the external affairs ministry earlier, Jaishankar had worked to get the deal off the ground. Even after being appointed ambassador to Singapore, he was called to head talks on finalising the text of the bilateral 123 agreement.
R.B. Grover, director, Strategic Planning Group, DAE
The other half of the Kakodkar-Grover duo of the DAE, he had been the key technical negotiator, acting as a bulwark against American demands.
D.B. Vekatesh Varma, counsellor, Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament
He joined the official delegation at the National Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting in Vienna. He had been party to the talks since he was a director in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in his previous posting.