International Group Backs Nuclear Accord For U.S., India

Washington Post
Sep 7, 2008

HYDERABAD: International negotiators revoked a 34-year-old ban on nuclear trade with India on Saturday and backed a contentious nuclear energy agreement between the country and the United States. The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, meeting in Vienna, reached the decision after nearly three days of diplomatic wrangling and stiff resistance from some members. "This is a forward-looking and momentous decision," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told President Bush in a phone call, according to a statement released in New Delhi. "It marks the end of India's decades-long isolation from the nuclear mainstream and of the technology denial regime." With the decision, India becomes the only country to have access to nuclear fuel and technology despite not signing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. India conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998, despite international disapproval, and continues to produce fissile material.