France Wants N-coop with India, but Will Await IAEA Talks
Jan 21, 2008 (Hindustan Times)
France on Friday expressed interest in forging civil nuclear cooperation with India but said it would await the outcome of talks between New Delhi and IAEA on a safeguards agreement. The European country, which generates 90 per cent of electricity using atomic energy, said India needed to be brought into the international nuclear mainstream. "We are in favour of initialing a sort of strategic agreement but we have to wait for the International Atomic Energy Agency," visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told journalists in New Delhi soon after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Kouchner, who held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, said France is in "favour of India getting back to the international nuclear power agency. We have to create a situation in terms of international law. We are waiting for that."
Britain Lends Support to India-U.S. Nuclear Deal
Jan 21, 2008 (Reuters)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday it supported granting a waiver to India from a 45-nation group which polices exports of nuclear technology, a key step in finalising a nuclear energy deal with the United States. The deal is being vigorously opposed by communist allies of the ruling coalition on the grounds it compromises India's sovereignty. They have threatened to withdraw support and force an early election if the government presses ahead without their consent. "The U.K. supports the India-U.S. civil nuclear co-operation initiative with all its elements, including an appropriate India specific exemption to the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines," a joint statement issued at the end of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's visit to India said.
Safeguards Agreement Key to U.S.-India Nuclear Deal
Jan 18, 2008 (China View)
VIENNA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The outcome of talks on an agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog on nuclear safeguards for India will be key to advancing the India-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation deal, analysts said. Experts from India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been meeting behind closed doors in Vienna on the pact for the IAEA to monitor India's civilian nuclear reactors, a prerequisite to move forward on the India-U.S. nuclear deal. The deal, signed in March 2006 during a visit to India by U.S. President George W. Bush, would give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment in exchange for New Delhi's agreement to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities. While India hopes to wrap up the talks as soon as possible this year, diplomats here said the negotiations have not been proceeding smoothly.
Disappointment if Nuclear Deal Falls Through: Manmohan
Jan 18, 2008 (The Hindu)
NEW DELHI: As uncertainty continues over the fate of the India-U.S. nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that it would be a disappointment if it fell through and he would pray to God to give him courage to be graceful under pressure. “I have already said that if the deal does not go through, it will be a disappointment but in life one has to learn to live with many disappointments,” he said.
NSG Sentiment in Favour of India
Jan 18, 2008 (The Hindu)
INGAPORE: The “sentiment in the Nuclear Suppliers Group has moved perceptibly in favour of India,” according to Shyam Saran, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister. Tracing this “sense” to India’s engagement with the NSG countries over the past year, Mr. Saran told The Hindu here on Thursday that the assessment covered China too. Going by the Joint Statement issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s latest talks with the top Chinese leaders in Beijing, he said it “is a good sign” that India and China expressed willingness to work together in the civilian nuclear energy domain. Mr. Saran was here on his way from Australia. India needed the NSG’s endorsement for gaining access to high-tech nuclear know-how and equipment for power generation. And, New Delhi’s “initiative” of engaging the NSG should be seen in the context of the U.S.-India nuclear deal, he said.
U.S. Diplomat Nicholas Burns To Step Down: Official
Jan 18, 2008 (The New York Times)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, the number three U.S. diplomat, is expected to step down for personal reasons in an announcement to be made on Friday, a U.S. official said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who plans to make the announcement at 9:45 a.m. EST, is expected to recommend U.S. ambassador to Russia William Burns as his replacement, said the official, who asked not to be named. Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO and State Department spokesman, has been a key player in negotiating the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal that would give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment for the first time in three decades. The U.S. official said Burns, whose is not expected to formally leave the department for a few months, is likely to keep a role for a few months after that in shepherding through the nuclear deal, which must clear several hurdles including final approval by the U.S. Congress before it can take effect.
“Pragmatic China Countervails US Through India Partnership,”
Jan 17, 2008 (India Interacts)
The Chinese, as Henry Kissinger pointed out in 1971, are eminently pragmatic people. They became communists when they felt that it would help to accelerate their development. They gave up communism and allied themselves with US capitalism when they concluded that it was a better strategy for their purpose. They treated India with contempt when it was economically, militarily and technologically weak. Now they are hailing India as a partner as they see the world looking at India as a possible engine of world economic growth bracketing it with China. They proliferated nuclear weapon technology when they thought it would serve to countervail India, became a preacher of non-proliferation norms to India and today, as they realize the world is getting ready to abolish the technology apartheid against India they are not going to oppose civil nuclear cooperation with India, either their own or that of other nations…The best strategy open to China to countervail US is not to step up pressure on India.
CPI(M) Describes Manmohan’s Visit to China as Successful
Jan 17, 2008 (The Hindu)
New Delhi (PTI): In the midst of strains with the UPA on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI(M) has come out with a rare praise of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, describing his visit to China as "highly successful". In an editorial in the party weekly 'People's Democracy', Politburo member Sitaram Yechury hailed the visit for its positive contribution towards improving relations between two Asian giants. "By all accounts Prime Minister's visit to the People's Republic of China was highly successful and has positively contributed towards carrying forward the improvement of relations between the two Asian giants," he said. He said the most important aspect was the enlargement of the canvas on which improvement in relations was being sought and concerns shared.
Iran Offers India N-energy, Hopeful on Gas Pipeline
Jan 17, 2008 (News Post India)
Iran plans to supply electricity to India using nuclear technology even as a visiting Iranian minister Thursday sounded optimistic about the proposed India-Pakistan-Iran (IPI) gas pipeline. 'Iran intends to generate 20,000 MW of electricity from nuclear plants and can supply surplus electricity to India via Pakistan,' said Danesh Jafri, Iranian minister for economic affairs and finance. Jafri was speaking at an interactive meeting organised by the trade body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here. On the proposed trilateral gas pipeline, Jafri said Iran was waiting for India and Pakistan to resolve their bilateral commercial issues. He dismissed the suggestion that the proposed gas pipeline was stuck because of the US pressure. 'Opposition may come from anywhere, but we can act alongside such pressure,' the Iranian minister said. He also brushed aside fears that financiers might keep away from the proposed pipeline in the face of American pressure.
Australia May Not Block Uranium Sales to India
Jan 16, 2008 (The Age)
AUSTRALIA has left open the option of supporting international uranium sales to India, even though the Rudd Government has ruled out Australian yellowcake exports to the energy-hungry South Asian giant. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced earlier this week that Australia would not sell uranium to India unless it signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But a spokesman for Mr Smith said yesterday that the Government has not yet made a decision on whether to block uranium sales to India by other countries — an option open to Australia and members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which sets global export controls for nuclear materials. Mr Smith risked Delhi's ire by junking the Howard government's decision last year to push ahead with a uranium export agreement in light of India's long-standing political stability and record as a responsible nuclear power.
Mulling a Meltdown of India’s Nuke Rules
Jan 16, 2008 (Embassy Magazine)
Canada has a say in whether restrictions on India's trade in nuclear goods should stay or go, but it's unclear which is the best way to vote…Canada and other nuclear countries are expected to render a decision on whether to lift restrictions on India's ability to trade in nuclear goods within the next few weeks. As a result, both strong support and opposition are mounting on the issue, as are questions about the possible economic and political ramifications of Canada's voting one way or the other. Last week, more than 100 non-proliferation experts and advocates wrote Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier to advise caution in throwing Canadian support behind an India-specific deal. India, one of four nations that have never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, has been negotiating an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency that would place some of its reactors under international safeguards. A meeting to wrap up the talks is expected today.
23 US Groups Forge Coalition Against India Nuclear Deal
Jan 16, 2008 (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Twenty-three US groups launched an effort to stop a US deal aimed at providing India with civilian nuclear fuel and technology, saying it would instead beef up New Delhi's atomic weapons capability. The Campaign for Responsibility in Nuclear Trade said the US-India civilian nuclear agreement would also "dangerously weaken" nonproliferation efforts, embolden Iran and North Korea to pursue nuclear weapons and exacerbate a nuclear arms race in Asia. US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached an agreement more than two years ago in which Washington would provide India with nuclear fuel and technology even though the nuclear-armed Asian nation has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Under the agreement India had to place selected atomic facilities under international safeguards. It also has to get a green light from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, a global regulator of nuclear commerce. An operating agreement together with safeguards has to be cleared by the US Congress before it could be implemented.
A Look Back reveals Forward Thinking
Jan 15, 2008 (The Washington Post)
Insights still worth pondering today are contained in a 33-year-old top-secret Special National Intelligence Estimate called "Prospects for Further Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons." The 50-page assessment was released in declassified form by the CIA last week with some 40 others in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. The Aug. 23, 1974, document contained some fairly accurate findings and predictions. It reported that Israel "has produced nuclear weapons," and that India, which had conducted "peaceful" nuclear weapons tests, would probably "proceed to fabricate weapons covertly." It added: "An Indian decision to proceed with an overt weapons program on any scale will be one factor inclining some other countries to follow suit." Enemies seeking nuclear weapons would become a motivation for "neighbors or potential antagonists" to join the race for nuclear weapons, the NIE predicted, adding: "The strongest impulses will probably be felt by Pakistan and Iran."
India to Hold Talks with IAEA on January 16
Jan 15, 2008 (Sify News)
New Delhi/Mumbai: India will hold the fourth round of talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday that is expected to wrap up a New Delhi-specific safeguards pact, a key step towards operationalising its nuclear deal with the US…Given the uniqueness and intricacy of the India-specific safeguards pact that has to acknowledge New Delhi's separation of its civilian and military nuclear facilities, the two sides will try to close the gap on lingering issues like uninterrupted fuel supply for the lifetime of 14 civilian nuclear reactors India proposes to place under international safeguards. The India-specific safeguards pact is expected to incorporate fuel supply guarantee, New Delhi's right to build a strategic fuel reserve for the lifetime of its safeguarded nuclear reactors and the right to reprocess spent fuel under a specially-built facility which will be placed under safeguards.
No Uranium Sales Until India Signs NPT
Jan 15, 2008 (The Australian)
THE Rudd Government yesterday vetoed selling uranium to India while it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced the decision after talks with India's visiting nuclear envoy, Shyam Saran…Mr Smith reiterated Labor's longstanding policy on uranium in what were described as friendly talks held in Perth. "We went into the election with a strong policy commitment (that) we would not export uranium to nation states who are not members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Mr Smith told reporters…At the heart of the Government's decision is India's continued refusal to accept a ban on nuclear testing. Fears were also raised that any decision to proceed with uranium sales to India would trigger bids from other countries who are not signatories to the NPT.
India Seeks to Work with China in Developing Nuclear Energy
Jan 15, 2008 (The Wall Street Journal)
BEIJING -- The quest for precious energy and the fight against possible environmental sanctions are starting to bring longtime rivals China and India together. Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for the world's two most populous nations to work together in developing nuclear power. "India seeks international cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy, including with China," Mr. Singh said in a speech on the third day of his trip to Beijing, according to Reuters. "We can do much more to jointly develop clean and energy-efficient technologies through collaborating research and development." Mr. Singh's trip, which began Sunday, is the first by an Indian prime minister to China in five years. It comes as the two neighbors have begun expanding trade and other ties despite decades of hostility and a burgeoning economic rivalry that spans the rich oil fields of central Asia to the nascent consumer markets of Africa.
China is Positive Towards Civilian Nuclear Cooperation with India
Jan 14, 2008 (The Hindu)
Beijing: Some concrete steps towards an understanding on civilian nuclear cooperation, going beyond the positive but little-noticed paragraph on the subject in the Joint Declaration issued during President Hu Jintao’s state visit to India in November 2006, could be a surprise outcome of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China. In their talks during a restricted private dinner on Sunday, Premier Wen Jiabao was extremely positive about taking these steps. To Dr. Singh’s suggestion that the chairman of China’s Atomic Energy Authority could be invited to visit India, the Chinese leader’s response was that it was an excellent idea. Over a period of several months, Chinese leaders have been making it clear that Beijing’s attitude to New Delhi’s efforts to end the nuclear technology denial regime is by no means negative, contrary to what some press reports have alleged.
NSG Could Give India Waiver Before March: Sources
Jan 13, 2008 (The Hindu)
Vienna (PTI): Ahead of a key meeting between India and IAEA on a safeguards agreement for the implementation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the 45-member NSG is apparently optimistic about giving waiver to New Delhi before March to allow nuclear commerce with it. It is learnt that even countries like Switzerland and New Zealand, which had been resisting the move, had come around and softened their stand and in fact were working towards making a written draft on the exemption to enable trade in nuclear material and technology with India. The Nuclear Suppliers' Group members, who met here last week, were optimistic about completing the process of giving waiver to India without much opposition before March, sources said. The draft paper on exemption to India by NSG was a crucial step towards operationalisation of the Indo-US deal, they said.
India Hopes to Conclude Nuclear Talks with IAEA Soon: Official
Jan 12, 2008 (AFP)
NEW DELHI (AFP) — India hopes to complete talks this month with the UN's atomic watchdog in an effort to conclude a crucial nuclear energy deal with the United States, an Indian official said. Under the accord, India needs to reach a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with which it has already held three rounds of negotiations. "We hope to have another round in the middle of January in Vienna where we hope to wrap it up," India's foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon told a news conference late Friday. "The discussions are proceeding smoothly and they will continue, we hope, to a rapid and satisfactory conclusion," he added. Under the nuclear accord with the United States, India will separate its civilian and military programmes and place 14 of its 22 nuclear plants under international safeguards in return for civilian nuclear technology.
US-India Business Lobby to Keep Pressing for Nuclear Deal
Jan 10, 2008 (The Hindustan Times)
Even as India has put its civil nuclear deal with the US apparently on hold, the American business lobby has vowed to keep working for speedy Congressional approval of the 123 Agreement.
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