The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

LETTERS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Russia, US ink civilian N-pact

Moscow, May 6
Russia and the United States today signed a long awaited civilian-nuclear cooperation pact that will allow firms from the world’s two biggest atomic powers to expand bilateral nuclear trade.

The deal will open up the booming US nuclear market and Russia’s vast uranium fields to firms from both countries. Without a deal, cooperation potentially worth billions of dollars was severely limited and required official consent.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said in a statement that the deal signed by its head Sergei Kiriyenko and US ambassador to Russia William Burns would create the legal basis for such cooperation.

“The signing of the document ... will provide for the normal development of atomic energy and the nuclear fuel cycle while reducing the risk of the proliferation of atomic weapons,” the Rosatom statement said.

At the 2006 Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg, US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin blessed the deal but it has faced opposition from some US congressmen because of Russia’s cooperation with Iran. A 123 agreement is required before countries can cooperate on nuclear materials.

Some US politicians have said nuclear cooperation with Russia should be shunned because Russia is helping Iran build an atomic power station, but the Bush administration is keen to have the pact approved this year.

Once the agreement is signed, Bush will have to send it to the Congress, which has 90 days to act. If Congress does nothing, the agreement goes into effect. If lawmakers want to block it, they must pass a resolution of disapproval.

Russia’s parliament, which is controlled by Putin’s party, must also ratify the treaty. Today’s agreement simplifies life for companies in both countries allowing them to strike deals on trade in nuclear materials directly among themselves. — Reuters

UPA, Left to continue nuke talks on May 28
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, May 6
Persisting with its incremental approach, the UPA government today urged the Left parties to allow it to seal the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the assurance that it will not follow it up by finalising the nuclear deal with the United States of America.

This proposal was placed for consideration of the Communists at today’s meeting of the UPA-Left panel on the Indo-US nuclear agreement. The Left parties, however, gave no firm commitment, but told the government that it needed further clarifications on the text it has negotiated with the IAEA and which was under discussion today. The Left leaders have said they will be sending their queries in writing while the government, on its part, has assured them that it is willing to address all its concerns.

By asking the Left parties to allow the signing of the agreement with the IAEA, the government is essentially following up on its policy of taking “one step at a time”. It had earlier succeeded in persuading the Left in dropping its objections to the government’s negotiations with the IAEA. Its next step is to complete this task at hand before proceeding further with the next stages for the operationalisation of the nuclear deal.

The next meeting of the UPA-Left joint panel has now been fixed for May 28. The timing of this meeting is significant as the IAEA board of governors is meeting in the first week of June and if the Left agree, the India-specific agreement could then be ratified.

The Left Front has decided to hold internal deliberations on May 23 to take a fresh look at the government’s clarifications. It would also decide on whether it should allow the UPA government to finalise the safeguards agreement with the IAEA in the light of its assertion that the 123 agreement on the Indo-US nuclear deal will not be finalised.

UPA sources said external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the joint panel, made a strong case for finalising the negotiated text with the IAEA in his opening remarks.

The minister maintained that this agreement is in India’s national interest and the country will lose a good opportunity if it fails to ink it now.

Mukherjee, according to UPA sources, also referred to the strong opposition from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries to any nuclear cooperation with countries which have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreement.

This has come as a major embarrassment for the government as well as the Left parties who have been urging the ruling coalition to take a position close to that of NAM countries on nuclear disarmament.

Stating that internal political uncertainty on the nuclear deal had resulted in hardening of positions internationally, Mukherjee said it was, therefore, imperative to finalise the agreement with the IAEA at the earliest.

Mukherjee’s opening remarks were followed by a detailed clarification of the Left’s queries on the IAEA agreement by science and technology minister Kapil Sibal. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said some issues still need to be clarified and that they will send a detailed questionnaire in the coming days.