NSG meet: Down to the wire, Ireland, Austria and New Zealand are the last holdouts

05 September 2008

Vienna: With members of the 45-member nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) welcoming Indian foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee's broad-based statement asserting his country's commitment to the principles of nuclear non-proliferation, if not the nuclear non-proliferation treaty itself, and also reaffirming a voluntary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, the stage may have been set for a tantalising finish to the two-day nuclear cartel's meet in Vienna.

His statement received immediate backing from John Rood, acting US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, who described India's statement as lending "positive momentum" to ongoing efforts to seek an NSG waiver. "On (that) basis the United States remains committed to the objective of achieving consensus and optimistic about achieving that goal," Rood informed the media.

However, reports emerging from Vienna now suggest that Ireland, Austria and New Zealand are the three countries still holding out against any settlement at the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group. Sources from India's external affairs ministry are being quoted as saying that even as Ireland, Austria and New Zealand are holding out against the grant of any waiver without explicit assurances, New Delhi has made it clear that it will not accede to any further changes in the draft agreement circulated to the NSG.

''We remain committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. India will work to the advancement of non-proliferation,'' says the external affairs ministry in a statement on its website.

According to reports emerging from Vienna, the meeting itself broke up after just an hour, apparently, to allow the United States and other countries favourable to the proposed draft waiver  to put in further effort with the band of six nations still holding out - the so called 'sceptics.'

While the Indian foreign minister's affirmation may have gone down well with the broad segment of the 45-member cartel, the holdout group may have decided to disregard the appeal altogether. Reports suggest that the holdout countries, namely Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands were "holding firm for an automatic termination of the exemption" if India tested another weapon.
 
Diplomats have been quoted as saying that China was providing support to this group.