IAEA meet on Indo-US nuclear safeguards agreement begins

01 August 2008

New Delhi: The 35-nation governing body of the International Atomic Energy Agency has begun deliberating the India-US nuclear safeguards agreement. The meeting began at 10:30 am in the board room of the IAEA in Vienna with an opening statement by the IAEA director-general, Mohammed el-Baradei.

In his opening statement, el-Baradei said though the agreement was not comprehensive or full in scope, "It satisfies India's needs while maintaining all of the agency's legal requirements." He noted that the deal was of indefinite duration, and said the agency expected to start implementing it at new facilities in 2009.

The meeting comes 10 days after an acrimonious debate in the Indian Parliament that saw the ruling United Progressive Alliance seek, and win, a vote of confidence in the lower house of the Parliament.

The Indian government is now all set to clear another hurdle on its way to signing a historic nuclear deal with the United States. In a few hours the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have considered, and in all likelihood approved, a mechanism to safeguard and inspect Indian nuclear facilities.

Under a safeguards agreement worked out with the United States, India will allow UN inspection of 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors by 2014. In return it expects to receive access to nuclear fuel and technologies from supplier nations, including the US.

It is widely expected that the IAEA's 35-nation board will approve the agreement unanimously. India was faced with some last minute jitters, which now appear to be subsiding as nations have expressed  their sentiments clearly.