NSG clearance set to unlock vast potential of Indian nuclear industry - $40bn FDI may roll in

06 September 2008

New Delhi: With India and the United States managing to break the gridlock at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting at Vienna and securing the critical exemption from NSG guidelines that allows the Indo-US nuclear accord to move to its last stop at the US Congress for final ratification a feeling of elation is evident across industry and government circles at the historic achievement.

The achievement may be all the more remarkable if reports suggesting that the approved draft has no reference to testing, enrichment ban and pre-processing technology ban is indeed true.

Meanwhile, two leaders who have been running a marathon race with the deal, US president George W Bush and prime minister Manmohan Singh, congratulated each other on the development. The Indian prime minister has described it as a historic moment for India.

US under secretary, arms and control, John Roods, senior member of the US delegation at Vienna, echoed the Indian prime minister's sentiment and said that the outcome would only improve ties between the two countries.

In New Delhi, a statement issued today by the government warmly welcomed the outcome and hailed it as a ''recognition of India's impeccable non-proliferation credentials and its status as a state with advanced nuclear technology''.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, in a statement said that this waiver will prove important for ''both global energy security as well as to meet the challenge of climate change''.