US moves NSG to lift nuclear ban on India

14 August 2008

Mumbai: The United States has circulated a draft proposal member nations of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),  for waiving a ban on nuclear trade with India, an arms control group said in a website release.

The draft was sent to NSG chair Germany on 6 August to be forward to all the 45 members of the group, the report said.

The US-based Arms Control Association, which published a draft of the US proposals on its website (www.armscontrol.org) late on Wednesday, said the proposal, once accepted by the NSG, would effectively lift a 34-year embargo on nuclear trade with India without going under full-scope IAEA safeguards.

The Indo-US civil nuclear deal signed between President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh needs a consensus approval from the 45-nation NSG before ratification by the US Congress.

In the draft circulated among member nations of the NSG and unveiled by the arms control advocacy group, the US has proposed to lift a 34-year embargo on nuclear trade with India, which is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The NSG meets in Vienna next week to discuss the draft amidst concerns raised by several member states. If the members fail to arrive at a consensus, the draft will have to go through an amendment or wait for consensus at the next meeting due  early in September.