NSG meet in progress amid mounting controversy over US role

Vienna: The United States has placed a revised draft before the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which  seeks a waiver for India from conditions governing trade with this cartel. The NSG is meeting here today to consider an India-specific proposal submitted by the US amidst a mounting controversy that this country may have been saying one thing to its Congress and another to India.

This new controversy apart, the deal is already facing mounting pressure from some members of the NSG whose reservations regarding a ''clean'' waiver for India had necessitated a second round of meeting. At the end of the first round (21-22 August 2008) the US promised to come back with a revised draft for a second round, saying it would incorporate suggestions and alleviate reservations expressed at the previous meet.

Reports have identified the holdout countries as New Zealand, Austria, Ireland and Switzerland, though atleast Switzerland has asserted that it will support the US proposal.

Reports now suggest that the holdout countries are not satisfied with the revised text either and would like to have certain "elements" incorporated in the draft keeping the basic tenets of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) in mind. 

Though one of the early backers of a non-proliferation regime in the world, India has refused to sign the NPT, maintaining that the treaty discriminated by favouring existing nuclear weapon states and did not serve its purpose in a fair manner.

Officials from holdout countries, opting to remain anonymous, have said that the new 'package' submitted by the US still needs to be reworked. "A number of measures have to be added to the current package before it can be considered to be a net gain for the world," a representative from such a country has been quoted as saying.