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Vienna Tidings 4 holdouts left after Norway and Netherlands agree to less precise language Vienna, September 5 After four rounds of discussions that spilled over late into the night, Austria, which was among a couple of countries holding out, gave enough indications that “more work still” needs to be done that will enable India cross a major hurdle in operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal. “Some work still needs to be done. A number of mirror images need to be added to the current talks and ideas in the draft... we want to have more effective and qualitatively improved security architecture,” said Peter Launsky, an Austrian foreign ministry official. Launsky said some "auxilliary measures" required to be incorporated in the crucial document. Diplomats worked late in the night to incorporate changes in the revised draft waiver at the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) meeting with the US walking the tightrope to convince the nay sayers. The NSG diplomats were consulted by the US and Indian officials on reaching formulations satisfying all sides. One western diplomat did not rule out a third meeting of the NSG if a consensus was elusive at the current meeting.There were even speculation that the meeting could be convened around September 21. Earlier in the day, a statement issued by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi affirming India’s commitment to non-proliferation goals sent out the right signals and boosted its case before the 45-member nuclear cartel, which welcomed and praised it. “We are pleased that there was a positive momentum in the discussions,” John Rood, US acting Under Secretary for Arms Control, told reporters before lunch break. He called Mukherjee's statement regarding India’s commitment to non-proliferation as “very significant” and said it was discussed by the NSG members who “praised and welcomed” it. “On the basis of this we believe a positive momentum was generated in the discussions,” Rood said. The US official emphasised that his country remained committed to securing the exception for India and was optimistic on achieving the goal. “We are both committed to achieving the objective and achieving consensus and are optimistic that we can achieve the goal,” he said. The idea of Mukherjee making a statement to mollify the concerns of countries with strong views on proliferation was discussed by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Prime Minister’s special envoy Shyam Saran with representatives of these countries last night informally. During the lunch break, diplomats of these countries also got in touch with their governments to brief them on Mukherjee’s statement and to get their response. In his statement Mukherjee also said India would abide by its voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing and will not be a source of proliferation of sensitive technologies. — Agencies Vienna, September 5
A statement issued by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi affirming India's commitment to non-proliferation goals sent out the right signals and boosted its case before the 45-member nuclear cartel, which welcomed and praised it. A few countries are still said to be having some questions, particularly on the issue of nuclear testing by India, when they put forth their expressions during the morning session on the second day of the NSG meeting. Efforts are still under way to assuage their concerns, diplomats said. "We are pleased that there was a positive momentum in the discussions," John Rood, US acting Under Secretary for Arms Control, told reporters before lunch break. He called Mukherjee's statement regarding India's commitment to non-proliferation as "very significant" and said it was discussed by the NSG members who "praised and welcomed" it. "On the basis of this we believe a positive momentum was generated in the discussions," Rood said. The US official emphasised that his country remained committed to securing the exception for India and was optimistic on achieving the goal. “We are both committed to achieving the objective and achieving consensus and are optimistic that we can achieve the goal,” he said. The idea of Mukherjee making a statement to mollify the concerns of countries with strong views on proliferation was discussed by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Prime Minister’s special envoy Shyam Saran with representatives of these countries last night informally. During the lunch break, diplomats of these countries also got in touch with their governments to brief them on Mukherjee’s statement and to get their response. In his statement Mukherjee also said India would abide by its voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing and will not be a source of proliferation of sensitive technologies, including enrichment and reprocessing transfers. India will work with the international community to advance the common objective of non-proliferation. India’s assertion came as four countries of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) stuck to their reservations on the waiver issue at the two-day meeting of the cartel in Vienna. They felt that India could use the NSG exemption to further its military nuclear programme. New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, and Switzerland have sought changes in the draft proposed by the US which projected the waiver as a “historic opportunity” to bring the largest democracy and one of the biggest economies into the global nuclear mainstream. An NSG waiver is a key step in the operationalisation of the nuclear deal which will go to the US Congress for approval once the atomic cartel gives the green light. — Reuters
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