China non-committal, Pakistan against IAEA safeguards agreement

24 July 2008

While the Indian government has pinned its hopes on the meeting of the IAEA board of governors on 1 August for the next steps after the boards's approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement, China merely said it was studying the draft safeguards agreement between India and the  International Atomic Energy Agency  (IAEA), Pakistan has opposed the agreement.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi that there was no question of "fast-tracking or slow-tracking" the nuclear deal and said it is a process which is on, and further steps would be taken after the IAEA board approval. After the IAEA clearance, India will have to get exemption from the NSG before the US Congress could be approached for final vote.

China, which had last week hinted that it might not be a stumbling block for the deal to go through, on the eve of India presenting its case to the IAEA . One of the recognised five nuclear powers, China is a member of both the and also the 45-nation NSG and the IAEA, which meets on 1 August to consider India's case.

However, Pakistan, in a letter to IAEA board of governors and Nuclear Suppliers Group members has sought amendments to the draft document, warning that a increased Indian access to nuclear fuel could accelerate the atomic arms race between them.

Analysts say Pakistan, which alonng with India is member of the IAEA board of governors, was trying to lay the ground to vote against the agreement.

Calling it discriminatory and dangerous'', the permanent representatives of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York and to IAEA in Vienna, have written identical letters to IAEA board of governors and NSG members saying the unjustified call for an exemption to India alone from the NSG rules were discriminatory and dangerous and it was important to resist the drive to steamroll this agreement through the IAEA-board and the NSG