Belated Russian assurances for India over NSG waiver

Moscow: Much after other major powers, the United States and France, Russia said Friday that India would continue to enjoy the waiver it received in 2008 from the Nuclear Suppliers Group's (NSG) export ban. It also offered its full cooperation in making New Delhi a full member of the NSG, a 45-nation cartel that regulates nuclear trade in the world.

Russia's open assurance comes almost a month after a plenary session of the NSG tightened its rules regarding export of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies to non-NPT signatories. Since the NSG refused to provide details of the understandings arrived at the session, Delhi had reasons to fear that the new, and stricter, guidelines would be specifically targeting the 'clean exemption' it had been accorded in the understanding with the international community in 2008.

Amongst major nuclear trading partners, France was the first to dispel the notion that the new guidelines would in any way impact the 'clean exemption'. It reiterated its commitment to follow through on the 2008 understandings regarding a 'clean exemption' for India and also stated its resolve to see that India was admitted as a member of all key nuclear export control regimes.

Faced with a clear statement from India that it would not consider itself bound to any bilateral understandings on proposed nuclear deals should the new resolutions at the NSG's plenary session in any way impact the 2008 waivers, the United States was forced to come out with a statement that said that the 2008 waivers would stand untouched.

In all this while, Russia hummed and hawed over its position refusing to clarify clearly where it stood on the matter apart from stating that its positions would be guided by domestic and international laws. While Moscow hummed and hawed, its embassy here in Delhi was more forthcoming stating that the new resolution would not impact the 2008 waiver and that the ENR restrictions were already covered by a bilateral pact, currently under negotiation between Delhi and Moscow.

At its plenary session in Holland's Noordwijk on 20-24 June, NSG had voted against the supply of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology to the countries, which have not signed the NPT.