India closer to N-waiver after positive debate

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Nuclear energy to meet rising needs, says PM

New Delhi, Sep 5 : India moved closer to securing a waiver from the nuclear trade ban on Friday night at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) in Vienna on a day of ‘positive’ discussions. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s assertion of India’s non-proliferation credentials has apparently soothed the handful of NSG members still skeptical of the Indo-US civilian nuclear co-operation deal.

The World Nuclear Association recently forecast that India will add 20-30 new nuclear reactors to bridge the gap between its energy supply and demand. Even as the deal is in its last lap of negotiations, the world’s biggest nuclear energy companies–the likes of Rolls-Royce, Areva, Mitsubishi, General Electric and Toshiba—are waiting in the wings to tap the opportunities that would come up in India’s civilian nuclear market.

While critics like Switzerland agreed to back the waiver on Friday, Austria and Ireland remain stumbling blocks and have expressed concerns about India’s refusal to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the atomic tests it carried out in 1998.

Stressing that India remains committed to its voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing, Mukherjee, in a statement issued from new Delhi, said, ‘We do not subscribe to any arms race, including a nuclear arms race. We affirm our policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.’

Arguing India has always ‘tempered’ its strategic autonomy with ‘a sense of global responsibility’, Mukherjee said New Delhi is ‘interested in participating as a supplier nation, particularly for thorium-based fuel and in establishment of international fuel banks, which also benefit India.’

The foreign minister’s extensive statement was worked out after the first day of the current NSG meeting ended inconclusively. ‘We have in place an effective and comprehensive system of national export controls, which has been constantly upgraded to meet the highest international standards,’ Mukherjee said to allay concerns about India sharing N-technologies with other nations.

Acting US under secretary for arms control, John Rood termed Mukherjee’s statement as “very significant” and said that NSG members have “praised and welcomed” it.

“On the basis of this, we believe a positive momentum was generated in the discussions,” Rood said between meetings in Vienna.