New Delhi, August 5
With the nuclear suppliers’ group (NSG) slated to meet on August 21, the US and France have launched a no-holds-barred campaign with the NSG member countries to secure a ‘clean exemption’ for India to enable it to undertake nuclear commerce with the international community.
“The US has launched a major diplomatic offensive…from President Bush to other administration functionaries, everybody is involved in it. We are working very closely with India and are also in touch with all NSG countries,’’ American ambassador to India David Mulford, who is in the US, told reporters in a telephonic conversation.
In this connection, he recalled that Bush had discussed the issue with top world leaders at the G-8 summit in Japan last month while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had also taken up the matter with many other NSG countries.
Welcoming the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA on Friday in Vienna, he was confident that the NSG would also approve exemption for India by consensus. Admitting that some countries have certain reservations about making exception in the
case of India, he said efforts were on to address the concerns of these nations, which have been votaries of nuclear disarmament.
“What we are doing is to see that NSG grants exemption as quickly as possible and the 123 agreement goes to the Congress in early September with the determination by the President,’’ Mulford added.
French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, at a meeting with a select group of journalists, meanwhile, said the IAEA had taken an important step by clearing the safeguards agreement and hoped the NSG nod would also come as quickly as possible. “We would like this exemption as early as possible in September.”
It is understood that France is also in close touch with countries like Ireland, Norway and Austria, trying to remove their misapprehensions about giving clean exemption to India.
The exemption would enable India to do civilian nuclear trade with the NSG countries, which would be good for the international community, Bonnafont said.
It is becoming clear from the French envoy’s statement that all major powers are anxious that the NSG waiver is granted to India as each of them stands to benefit from it. France and Russia are also keen to engage with India in the civilian nuclear trade.
However, all these countries are treading cautiously and convincing each of the 45 NSG members of the benefits of granting clean exemption to New Delhi. Since NSG is a forum, which works by consensus and any member can block the waiver for India; a serious attempt is being made by major countries to get all NSG members on the board.
Asked if there could be pressure on India to sign the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) as a condition for getting NSG waiver, the US ambassador pointed out that when negotiations were initiated on the Indo-US nuclear deal, New Delhi had made it clear that it would not be a signatory to the NPT.
On reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be visiting Washington next month, Mulford said he was not in a position to confirm this. However, Manmohan Singh would be going to New York for the United Nations General Assembly next month and the visit would provide him an opportunity to hold bilateral discussions with other world leaders.
Mulford said the final draft of the document for exemption to India would be shared with New Delhi before it was circulated among the NSG members.
