By IANS
Vienna/New Delhi : India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Wednesday began crucial talks on an agreement that will bring 14 of the country’s civilian nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards – a key step towards the resumption of global civilian nuclear cooperation with New Delhi.
Anil Kakodkar, chief of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, met IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei at the UN nuclear watchdog’s headquarters in Vienna.
The meet lasted for half an hour, marking the beginning of a series of meetings between the IAEA and Indian nuclear negotiators on the India-specific safeguards pact that will take into account India’s unique status as a state with nuclear weapons seeking global civilian nuclear cooperation.
“Talks went off well. We need to sort out the details, specially as we are aiming at fuel guarantees as part of the safeguards pact,” an Indian source said.
The IAEA has already laid some technical groundwork for the talks.
As India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), India’s safeguards pact with the IAEA will be unlike the ones applicable to the five official nuclear weapons states and will also be different from the one applicable to non-nuclear weapon states.
The template for the India-IAEA pact will be INFCIRC 66, which entails putting 14 of its 22 civilian nuclear reactors under permanent safeguards.
Despite a constant refrain from the US about time running out for operationalising the nuclear deal, the Indian government has not set a timeline for concluding the safeguards pact with the IAEA – a crucial step that will pave the way for the resumption of global civil nuclear commerce with India.
The Department of Atomic Energy’s strategic planning group director Ravi B. Grover, along with other officials, is part of Kakodkar’s delegation.
Kakodkar’s meeting with ElBaradei comes a day ahead of the regular board meeting of the Vienna-based UN agency, which will discuss implementation issues on current safeguards and technical cooperation projects undertaken by it.
The Indian government decided to approach the IAEA for negotiations on an India-specific safeguards agreement after a green signal from its Left allies, who are fiercely opposed to the nuclear deal that they fear may reduce the country to a “subordinate ally” of the US.
The Left parties gave a go-ahead to the government to hold talks with the IAEA in a joint meeting Friday on the condition that the text of the final safeguards pact be shown to them for approval before sending it to the IAEA board of governors for signing.
After India concludes a safeguards pact with the IAEA, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will hold a special meeting to decide on changing its guidelines to allow global civil nuclear commerce with New Delhi.
The 123 agreement between India and the US will then be sent to the US Congress for a final up and down vote before the two sides can resume civil nuclear commerce after a gap of nearly three decades.