NSG meet: As Day 2 dawns India tries to assuage fears

05 September 2008

New Delhi/Vienna: India issued a suo moto statement on Friday in a bid to allay fears amongst some NSG countries still holding out against granting an exemption to India from the normal rules of nuclear trade that govern this cartel.

''India is committed to concluding the Fissile Material Cut off Treaty (FMOT),'' Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said. ''India won't be a source of proliferation of nuclear material,'' the foreign minister added.

Mukherjee reaffirmed the country's commitment to its moratorium on nuclear testing as well as its policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, with Day 2 of the meet is set to dawn, senior Indian officials apparently met representatives of the few so-called ''sceptic'' countries of the 45-member grouping to assuage fears.

These meetings have taken place even as other members of the cartel have expressed their optimism that a consensus would indeed be achieved that would end the country's 34-year long nuclear isolation. "We are close to a consensus. There may be a statement for the press today," a western diplomat, was quoted as saying at the end of the first day of proceedings.

A number of countries like New Zealand, Austria, Norway, Ireland, The Netherlands and Switzerland have expressed their dissatisfaction with the draft US proposals and have succeeded in stalling consensus at the NSG in the first round of meeting held on 21-22 August. These 'holdout' countries have held up further movement on the proposals on the first day of this round of meeting at Vienna as well and threaten to take matters to a possible third round later this month.