India's Nuclear Agreement

[nitesh]

now check this:

NZ denies blocking India's nuclear dream - New Zealand's source for World News on Stuff.co.nz

NZ denies blocking India's nuclear dream
By MICHAEL FIELD - Fairfax Media | Wednesday, 27 August 2008

New Zealand has denied it is trying to make India sign key anti-nuclear treaties in the debate over approving an India-US nuclear pact.

In a statement, Disarmament Minister Phil Goff has partially lifted a veil of secrecy around the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which must approve, by consensus, the nuclear deal between Delhi and Washington. It is known for its secrecy.
New Zealand has been cited as one of six small countries said to oppose the deal. The NSG failed to agree on it last week and will meet again on September 4.
"The discussions last week were robust and constructive and we look forward to continuing this dialogue around a revised draft exemption text at next month's meeting," Mr Goff said.
He has revealed, for the first time, that the NSG has around 50 amendments to the proposed treaty text.
"The key function of the NSG is to formulate guidelines for managing exports of nuclear material, equipment and technology to ensure that this trade does not contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation."
Discussion centred on trying to come up with compatible objectives in the US-India Civil Nuclear Co-operation Agreement.
"While New Zealand remains a strong advocate of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and would welcome India's accession to these treaties, we have not included these elements in our package of proposals," Mr Goff said.
He added New Zealand acknowledged the "potential benefits" in the nuclear pact "while noting concerns and the need for consistency in pursuing the objective of non-proliferation.
"A large number of countries big and small expressed views similar to New Zealand's that there needed to be compatibility between the US-India Agreement and the goals of the NSG, and indicated a willingness to engage positively to achieve that outcome."
In the Indian media New Zealand's stance has attracted increasingly hostile coverage and the Hindu newspaper claimed Wellington is trying to stop all Indian nuclear testing before it approves a pact.
India Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said his nation will not be pushed on the deal.
"The NSG exemption should be clean and there should be no additional condition," Kakodkar said.
"They may want to push, but India can't be pushed. Civil nuclear cooperation is important, but that doesn't mean at any cost...
"Should we allow ourselves to be pushed? Are we not Indians? Are you not proud of yourself and what you are doing?"
Commenting on the Goff statement the Hindustan Times said his clarification relating to the NPT and CTBT was significant, given India's reluctance to sign them, especially the NPT.
It said however the other issues included a periodic review or denial of uranium enrichment and reprocessing technologies remain on the agenda.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invested his political future in a treaty with the US in which Washington will supply India with civilian nuclear fuel and technology. He narrowly survived a confidence vote last month in pushing through the deal on his side.


This is getting interesting now, but chances of deal getting though are getting nill.

 

[nitesh]

check this:

http://www.outlookindia.com/fullpri...80901&fname=Interview+Boucher+%28F)&sid=1

'Legislating The Hyde Act Internationally Isn't The Right Way'

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs on the hurdles that await the US-India nuclear deal, Pervez Musharraf's resignation, and developments in Kashmir.

ASHISH KUMAR SEN ON RICHARD BOUCHER

 

[Spring Onion]

India, US work on revised text for NSG waiver
27 Aug 2008, 0206 hrs IST, Indrani Bagchi ,TNN


NEW DELHI: As India and the US work on a new draft text for an NSG waiver, some compromise solutions to the most sticky issues have been proposed but India has not accepted all of them yet.

The new text, which is expected to be circulated later this week, is likely to modify the language of the draft to keep NSG member countries' concerns in perspective, but within India's red lines.

That's not easy given the fact that India's room for flexibility is virtually nil. The draft is currently being negotiated between the US and India in Washington, where foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is working on the language with his counterpart, William Burns, and Richard Stratford.

There are three main conditions that have become the "core" — a "testing" clause, bar on transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology and a periodic review of India's compliance.

The easiest to resolve will be the "review" demand — India opposes something that is intrusive or discriminatory, so the way out appears to be something like this. India would engage in a kind of "chair dialogue" or a periodic consultation with the NSG that would not be intrusive. Instead, it would be a mechanism that could enhance India's relations with the global nuclear body.

On the issue of "testing", or whether NSG will cease cooperation if India tests another nuclear weapon, the proposal gaining currency is a replication of the 123 agreement — that in such an event there would be a set of "consultations" between the NSG members where the decision on future course of action would be taken in NSG tradition, by consensus.

The problem compromise is on transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology (ENR) to India. India is adamant that this should not be barred to India. But many countries are insisting on barring this to India.

The infamous Hyde Act actually allows transfer of ENR technology to India under certain conditions — in a multinational facility, under a bilateral agreement or if the US president certifies that the enriched fuel would only be used for civilian purposes.

The 123 agreement opened the door for separate agreements on reprocessing, and the IAEA also left a door open for a separate agreement on enrichment. The NSG guidelines themselves do not talk about ENR transfers. Over the past few years, NSG countries have been involved in a heated debate about whether to include ENR technology in the guidelines.

But there has been no decision yet. In fact, since the NSG has been established, said sources, there has been a tradition of transferring ENR technology only to countries that already have it. But there is a huge resistance to giving it to India, and one of the unstated reasons, said an Indian official, could be "to extend India's external vulnerabilities". India is equally adamant on this.

The compromise that has been offered to India is that the NSG would defer decision on India's demand until it decides on its own guidelines. India would reject this outright, say sources, because accepting any bar on ENR would mean the choking off of India's nuclear industry — it means India would import reactors but cannot enrich fuel to feed it or reprocess to clean up.

NSG officials said they were wading through some 50 amendments that have been tabled, and none of them have been removed yet. This means the opposition has not dried up yet, they said. Some of the amendments are clearly for domestic audiences, and certainly there is no question of putting NPT and CTBT demands on the table, they said.

However, the US is already working on the next step of the nuclear deal. Talking to journalists en route to Israel on Tuesday, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said, "Our principal focus right now has been on the India civil nuclear deal, working through the NSG — or having worked through the IAEA, now working through the NSG, and still trying to get into a position to make the appropriate presidential determinations in early September."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...d_text_for_NSG_waiver/articleshow/3409496.cms

 

[Spring Onion]

South Africa urged to block India's nuclear fuel bid

27 Aug 2008, 0958 hrs IST,IANS


JOHANNESBURG: A powerful lobby group in the South African capital has urged the government to oppose India's bid to buy nuclear fuel and technology when the issue comes up at the next meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group early September.

"I am writing to you to urge you to oppose an exemption for India from the rules of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," Dominique Gilbert of the Pelindaba Working Group (PWG), a member of the national Coalition Against Nuclear Energy, wrote in a letter shared with media. South Africa is one of the 45 members.

The group takes its name from South Africa's first nuclear energy research centre at Pelindaba, north of here.

"As you know, the NSG operates by consensus, so by blocking such an exemption South Africa can prevent grave damage being done to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime," Gilbert said.

PWG said India was seeking an exemption so that it could conclude a nuclear agreement with the US. However, an exemption from NSG rules would enable trade in nuclear materials, equipment and technology not only between India and the US, but also with other nuclear supplier states, including France and Russia.

"The US-India nuclear agreement effectively grants India the privileges of nuclear weapons states (NWS), despite the fact that India developed nuclear weapons outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. The agreement doesn't even require India to accept the same responsibilities as other states, i.e. full-scope IAEA safeguards for non-NWS and a commitment from NWS to negotiate in good faith for the elimination of nuclear weapons," the letter continued.



South Africa urged to block India's nuclear fuel bid-Rest of World-World-The Times of India


Mods why not to pin the thread till the time the deal is finalized as we see too many thread on this deal issue here.

Jana

 

[Contrarian]

South Africa wont stop the deal. We have very close relations with South Africa.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

India-US Nuclear Deal Headed For Fiasco

By Praful Bidwai

29 August, 2008

Inter Press Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (IPS) - As the tortuous negotiations for the United States-India nuclear deal enters its final stage, it becomes clear that India seriously underestimated the discomfort and opposition the agreement would arouse in many countries because of the special privileges granted to India, largely on New Delhi's terms.

The emerging situation has thrown Indian policy-makers off-balance. They are now groping for a strategy to deal effectively with dissenters in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) which meets next week in Vienna, Austria.

The NSG, a private arrangement, must grant India a waiver from its tough rules governing nuclear trade before the deal can be completed. The rules prohibit nuclear commerce with countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India is a non-signatory.

The NSG is due to discuss a U.S.-drafted waiver motion on Sep. 4-5. It failed at its two-day meeting last week to agree on the proposed exemption. Several member-states raised objections and moved as many as 50 amendments to the text. Since the NSG works by consensus, even one member can hold up a decision.

Many NSG members, led by Austria, New Zealand, Ireland the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, are expected to move amendments to advance the group's fundamental non-proliferation objectives while granting India a waiver.

These amendments seek to impose three conditions on the exemption: periodic review of India's compliance with non-proliferation commitments; explicit exclusion of uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent-fuel technologies from what can be exported to India; and most important, no more nuclear trade with India if this country conducts another nuclear test.

India however insists that the waiver must be "clean and unconditional".

Meanwhile, the U.S. is likely to redraft the motion to meet some of the probable objections and reservations.

However, India and the U.S. have started a new gambit, based on mutual accusation and posturing. Indian officials privately say the U.S. did not pull its weight in lobbying the dissenting states hard enough, or that it "sabotaged" the NSG proceedings by firing from the dissenters' shoulders.

The Americans say that India is being unreasonably inflexible because it does not realise that many NSG members will not go along with the old [Sep. 21] draft. There are limits to how much Washington can push them. Something has to give. India says it will reject anything but "cosmetic" changes in the old U.S. draft.

"It's hard to believe that the U.S. would sabotage the deal at this stage, after having initiated the deal and gone out of its way to placate India," says physicist M.V. Ramana of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in the Environment and Development at Bangalore who is a noted commentator and author on nuclear proliferation issues.

He adds: "In any case, India was involved in negotiating every phrase in the resolutions brought before the IAEA and the NSG. It's futile for India to blame the U.S. It was at best naïve for it to trust Washington to do everything at the NSG."

Unless the NSG's next meeting grants India a waiver, the deal is likely to miss the tight U.S. Congress deadline for its ratification of a bilateral India-U.S. agreement, which is a necessary precondition for the deal to take effect.

The "123 agreement", so called because it concerns Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, 1954, was signed last year to enable nuclear commerce with India.

Congress is scheduled to meet beginning Sep. 8 and adjourn on Sep. 26 before it is re-elected in November.

However, even if the NSG approves a waiver next week, the deal might not make it in time to the U.S. Congress for its ratification.

"It's not going to happen," Congressman Gary Ackerman told "The Times of India" at Denver, Colorado, where he is attending the Democratic National Convention. "There simply isn't enough time."

According to Ackerman, the duration of the next Congress session falls short of the 30-day resting period the deal must have under current rules. Although it is technically possible to waive the rules, this will mean that Congress agrees to debate the 123 agreement rather than just pass an "up-and-down" or yes or no vote.

And if the agreement is opened up for debate, said Ackerman, "you can bet that there are some lawmakers who want to bring in amendments."

Such amendments are expected to bring the 123 agreement in conformity with a legislation that Congress passed in December 2006, called the Henry J. Hyde Act, which imposes numerous conditions upon India, including an end to nuclear cooperation with the U.S. if India conducts a nuclear test.

Uncertainty over the deal's fate has emboldened NSG dissenters to go public. Phil Goff, New Zealand's disarmament and arms control minister, has said in a statement that "many countries spoke in favour of amendments" to the U.S. draft at the last NSG.

Goff said: "A large number of countries, big and small, expressed views similar to New Zealand's that there needed to be compatibility between the US-India agreement and the goals of the NSG... the discussions last week were robust and constructive."

Goff clarified that "while New Zealand remains a strong advocate of the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and would welcome India's accession to these... we have not included these in our package of proposals."

India refuses to sign the treaty and will not accept any "prescriptive" advice to do so. While no NSG member expects India to sign the treaties, they want New Delhi to show some willingness to accommodate non-proliferation concerns.

The first signs of discomfort with the deal appeared at the Aug. 1 meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors, when many states expressed their reservations about the agency's safeguards (inspections) agreement with India, but finally approved it. The reservations were centred on guarantees of uninterrupted fuel supplies and on India's right to take "corrective measures" in case these are disrupted.

Even so, Austria, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Norway made it clear in a joint statement that the board's decision only endorses the safeguards agreement, but "in no way prejudge the decision on a possible India-specific exemption in the NSG."

Austria even questioned the description of nuclear energy as an "efficient, clean and sustainable energy source", which lays the preambular basis for the safeguards agreement.

"Although the statement was a clear warning, Indian negotiators ignored it," says a high Indian official familiar with the talks on the deal, who insisted on anonymity. "They thought a combination of U.S. strong-arm pressures and India's new 'with-us-or-against-us' diplomacy would do the trick."

At the NSG meeting last week, opposition to the deal grew. A bloc of six states emerged (comprising Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland) which acted in concert and issued a joint statement. This said their amendments were "based on concepts already enshrined in U.N. Security Council resolutions, in domestic legislation of [NSG member-states], and in bilateral nuclear supply agreements which [they] have concluded over the years".

These statements took Indian officials by surprise. They had expected the NSG meeting to be a roaring success and the crowning of world recognition of India's "arrival on the global stage". They now describe its deliberations as a "blow" to India, even a "debacle".

Hectic and tough negotiations are reportedly in progress between the U.S. and India on the draft of a new waiver text.

"The U.S. will probably try to persuade India to accept at least one of the three proposed conditions, namely, exclusion of enrichment and reprocessing technology," says Ramana. "It is hard to say if India will agree to this while accepting a periodic review of its non-proliferation commitments and cessation of cooperation in case of an Indian nuclear test."

The Indian government has repeatedly said the deal does not, and cannot, compromise its "sovereign" right to test.

"But it seems even more unlikely," adds Ramana, "that the NSG dissenters will be satisfied with such a modified draft. The chances of the deal going through before the present term of the U.S. Congress ends seem low."

Whatever happens, one thing is clear. Unless the movers of the amendments calling for such conditions can be persuaded, cajoled or coerced into dropping them, India must humble pie, agree to a compromise, and make the best of a bad deal. Or, India can walk away and lose the deal altogether --at least in the Bush administration's term.

Neither prospect is pleasant for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who took his government to the brink by staking his personal stature on the deal and losing the support of the Left parties, substituting it with an alliance with the less reliable and opportunistic Samajwadi Party.

If the deal collapses, Singh's position in the ruling coalition could become shaky. If he signs a compromised agreement, he will be accused of a "sellout".

India-US Nuclear DealHeaded For Fiasco By Praful Bidwai

 

[Neo]

NSG ‘hawks’ deal blow to India-US agreement​

VIENNA, Aug 29: The United States has told six nations its bid to lift a global ban on nuclear trade with India has stumbled over their objections and pressed them at a New Delhi meeting to relent, diplomats said on Friday.

Members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) have balked at approving a waiver to its rules allowing business with India without conditions to help finalise Washington’s 2005 civilian nuclear cooperation deal with New Delhi.

An Aug 21-22 NSG meeting ended inconclusively after up to 20 member states called for changes to the US waiver draft to ensure Indian access to foreign nuclear markets would not indirectly benefit its atomic bomb programme.

The US-India deal has dismayed pro-disarmament nations and campaigners since India is outside the global Non-Proliferation Treaty and developed nuclear bombs in the 1970s with Western technology imported ostensibly for peaceful atomic energy.

Washington had been expected to rework the waiver draft in consultation with New Delhi for consideration at a second NSG meeting set for Sept 4-5 in Vienna next to the UN nuclear watchdog agency headquarters.

But diplomats, asking for anonymity due to political sensitivities, said the redrafting had run into Indian challenges and the US envoy to New Delhi protested to the leading six NSG hardliners at a meeting on Thursday.

Washington was shocked and India felt betrayed by the unproductive NSG meeting 10 days ago, US Ambassador David Mulford told envoys from New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands, according to the diplomats.
As a result, Mulford said negotiations with India on proposed amendments to the draft were in serious difficulty and the whole effort was in danger of breaking down, the diplomats told Reuters.

He was quoted as saying “non-proliferation bureaucrats” in Vienna seemed out of touch with political leadership and if they were going to insist on “the gold standard of non-proliferation”, there would be no waiver agreement.

Mulford, diplomats said, urged the six to “make a strategic and political choice” that might not be perfect in NPT terms but was the best achievable, given the shaky Indian governing coalition’s political inability to accept major NSG conditions.

India has insisted on a “clean, unconditional” NSG waiver. Above all, it rejects any change that would end its right to test nuclear arms even though US legislation itself mandates a halt to trade with India in the event of another test.

Washington and some allies assert the deal will shift India, the world’s largest democracy, towards the non-proliferation mainstream and combat global warming by fostering use of low-polluting nuclear energy in developing economies.

“While there is still a distance to go, the proposal to give India a clean exemption from global nuclear trade standards is in deep trouble,” Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association think tank in Washington wrote in a commentary on Thursday.

Some diplomats said that if a revised US draft was not circulated soon, there might not be enough time to scrutinise it and finalise positions for a Sept 4-5 meeting.-Reuters

 

[sunny_aus]

India not to accept NSG waiver if 'red lines' are crossed


NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting, India has said it will not accept the waiver from the 45-nation grouping if the "red lines" set by it are crossed. ( Watch )

National Security Adviser M K Narayanan made it clear that inclusion of any clause on testing, periodic review or denial of enrichment and reprocessing technology in the text of the NSG waiver would be unacceptable and hoped a way around these issues would be found through diplomatic efforts.

"There is no question of cosmetic or otherwise. What we are really asking is, there are certain issues on which there are certain red lines drawn by us because those are the commitments that had been made by our Prime Minister," he told a private news channel when asked whether cosmetic changes would be acceptable to India.

"On red lines we cannot, that's what we told our parliament that these are sacrosanct and if these are not met we cannot endorse the agreement," Narayanan said.

Asked to comment on some NSG member countries' position that the cooperation should be terminated if India were to conduct any test, Narayanan said the usage of word testing would not be acceptable to India.

"We have always made the point that testing is a word that we find difficult to adjust to not because of anything else but because that is what parliament has mandated us to do."

"I presume testing will be difficult for us to, so we will find ways around it. We are clear that whatever we finally agree to in NSG should be something that we can sell to parliament," the National Security Adviser said. He, however, expressed confidence that a way out would be found on this issue through "creative diplomacy".

"Hopefully we will find a way on it. I think it will be possible for us to surmount some of these obstacles.

On demands for exclusion of enrichment and reprocessing technology in the NSG waiver, he said it will not be acceptable to India.

Emphasising that India does not want to be "singled out", he said "NSG does not have ban on enrichment and reprocessing technology transfer per se... unlike the US, none of the countries have ban in their countries (on transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology)."

"We don't want some countries' individual predilections to be performing part of huge package of items in the NSG," Narayanan said.

He said if any country does not wish to give enrichment and reprocessing technology and still wants to do nuclear commerce with India "we will draw up guidelines according to that."

He also ruled out possibility of accepting periodic review of the waiver. "It is uncalled for. We have put all the cards on the table. We have been as transparent as anyone else. We are willing to make our case before the NSG. We do not understand the need for the review mechanism," he said.

The National Security Adviser noted that the exemption was being granted for civil nuclear cooperation, which involves commerce, investing money on long-term basis of up to 30-40 years. "If we have periodic reviews, they (investors) will say it should not be done." (He said India has already flanked its concerns. "Our concerns are well known. I think most of the countries recognised the validity of our concerns. There are some countries who I think are ideologically committed to their concepts of non-proliferation and hence tend to take a sort of hardline position on this.

"I think it is a question of convincing them that India with an impeccable record in terms of non proliferation, the fact that it has always stood for universal nuke disarmament is a right candidate for nuclear commerce," he said.

Recognising that some countries have "problems" with the grant of waiver, Narayanan said India will have no objection if some of their views are reflected in the statement of the NSG Chair "as long as it does not inhibit us from what we believe is clean and unconditional waiver."

Asked whether he was confident of getting a clean exemption from the NSG, Narayanan said he was optimistic.

He said concerns of some countries were suitably dealt with but some still remain.

"I am optimistic but I will not allow optimism to override caution," he said.

Asked whether New Delhi was shown the revised NSG draft, he said "The work is in progress and I cannot tell you the details."

Narayanan said since India is not a member of the NSG, it has to depend on other countries to push its case.

He hailed the efforts made by the US, Russia, France, UK and a number of other countries in pushing India's case and said "I think we are nearing the goal."

He particularly showered praise on US Ambassador to India David Mulford in this regard.

On whether he was confident that India's concerns were taken care of, he said "Yes, constant dialogue is going on between New Delhi and the US."

He denied that India was arm-twisting or blackmailing countries like Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland who created hurdles at the NSG.

He said the support for the waiver was not a touchstone for friendly relations with any country. "I believe if anybody is friendly to us, they will benefit."

Narayanan said the outcome of the NSG meeting on August 21-22, which could not arrive at a decision to grant a waiver to India, was not a setback.

"Certainly not a debacle nor do I think it is a setback. We were prepared for this because as we were told as it may be necessary to have two rounds before finalising something which would be mutually satisfactory," he said.


India not to accept NSG waiver if 'red lines' are crossed- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

Any type of imposed conditions by NSG will make a question on the $200bn expected overseas investment on nuclear reactors by India within next 12 to 15 years. why to buy nuclear reactors if fuel supply can not be assured without any condition? this will finally make power generation though nuclear reactors as an “unreliable source of energy” and Indian plan for moving to nuclear power plants from coal or gas fired plant will come under a question. and even after a high voltage drama of Indo-US nuclear deal, India will be left with no option other than continuing its dependence on those sources of energy which cause little pollution and this way the efforts towards climate change movements will be affected, the main basic reason why India is going for nuclear power plants.

Until India will not get a guarantee on fuel supply for its nuclear power plants, India will never consider NSG approval with any real sense.

 

[sunny_aus]

N-deal with India to conclude by early September: US


As India and the US started redrafting the text of NSG waiver, Washington has said it is working in a focussed manner to push the process with the aim of concluding the civil nuclear deal by early next month.

"Our principal focus right now has been on the India civil nuclear deal, having worked through the IAEA, now working through the NSG, and still trying to get into a position to make the appropriate Presidential determinations in early September," US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told reporters on way to Tel Aviv.

She was responding when asked whether developments in Georgia will affect the US-Russia civilian nuclear deal.

Clearance from the 45-nation is a key step in the implementation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal after which it has to be subjected to a final vote in the US Congress, which will be meeting on September 8 for the last session during the Bush administration.

The comments by Rice came as Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met US Under Secretary of State William Burns here to discuss issues related to redrafting of the text of the waiver which is to be presented before the NSG at its next meeting in Vienna on September 4-5.

Menon and Burns are understood to have discussed how to strike a balance in the draft so that it addresses the apprehensions of the sceptic NSG members without any "conditions" being attached to it.

The Foreign Secretary also met US Acting National Security Adviser James Jeffrey during which the same issue was discussed.

Success or failure of Indo-US deal will give a type of final direction to the India-US future relationship. Failure of United States for approval of “a clean and unconditional waiver from NSG” will give a direction to the foreign policy of India. how much India would rely on the reduced strengths of United States and how much India will consider any new deals with United States if they can’t make it happen? Loosing a growing economic/ strategic relationship with a growing power house like India which has pretty much capability to balance the emerging superpower China in Asia, due to lack of strengths of US at present, will finally take the seat of being super power from US. and finally United States will emerge as an equally powerful country as compare to Russia and China.

 

[sunny_aus]

N-deal will take India-US ties to next level, says Rice



WASHINGTON: US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has said that the conclusion of the US-India civil nuclear deal would be a “milestone” in bilateral ties that will “push” the relationship to the “next level”.

The deal would only push the US-Indian relationship to the next level and her successors would do more work on that, she said in an interview to a magazine.

“... But I think it’s important to have certain milestones that you’re trying to achieve, to have certain work that you’re trying to finish, even if you know that the conclusion of, for instance, the US-India civil nuclear deal would not be the end of moving the US-Indian relationship forward,” Rice said.

“We’ll do more work on that, the next secretary of state will, and so will the next secretary of state,” she said according to the transcript of the interview released by the state department on Friday. “But if you can conclude something like that ...you’ve pushed it to the next level. And I’m always looking for the work that you can conclude to push something to the next level, push your relationship to the next level,” Rice said.

Describing the relationship with India as “one of those,” she said: “We set out at the beginning to try and improve, extend, broaden and deepen the US-India relationship because very early on the President (George W Bush) and I both saw it as an emerging, big democracy and the relationship’s never been very close.”

“And you can do all of the kind of small things, you know - not small things, but expected, new agricultural cooperation, new cooperation between businesses,” Rice said recalling how the Bush administration started reaching out to New Delhi.

“But the 800-pound elephant in the room was could we overcome the nuclear cooperation barrier that has existed ever since the NPT — India not signing the NPT and India being a nuclear state,” she said.

N-deal will take India-US ties to next level, says Rice- Dateline India-The Sunday ET-Features-The Economic Times

 

[nitesh]

NDTV.com: New nuke draft reaches NSG members

New nuke draft reaches NSG members
NDTV Correspondent
Monday, September 01, 2008, (New Delhi)


India is worried just four days ahead of the crucial NSG meeting in Vienna on the nuclear deal. The new draft prepared by India and America has reached NSG members.

While the details of the draft are not yet known reports from Vienna say some countries are still not happy.

They believe the changes are just cosmetic, countries like Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland and Norway have been demanding changes that reflect their concerns on testing.

Indian officials, however, have told NDTV, India has been very reasonable in the draft, and has made some concessions though they are within the red lines laid out by the Prime Minister.

They say it is now up to America, Russia and France to convince the skeptics but also admit there is uncertainty about how things will move.

Chinese take

Adding to the international pressure is a commentary in Monday's People's Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official paper.

The Chinese newspaper has called the nuclear agreement between India and the United States a "major blow" to non-proliferation. It reads:

"Whether it is motivated by geopolitical considerations or commercial interests, the US-India nuclear agreement has constituted a major blow to the international non-proliferation regime."


Hmm this is getting interesting, but with china also not supporting the deal is as good as dead. Seems like time to move on.

 

[nitesh]

hmm this is getting more and more interesting:

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal...-against-clean-waiver-for-india_10091278.html

Six countries in the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group have remained opposed to a “clean waiver” to India ahead of its meeting here this week and some of them have said they were under pressure to reach a “constructive conclusion” to allow global nuclear commerce with New Delhi.“We are under pressure to agree to an acceptable compromise at the Sep 4-5 meeting,” a western diplomat, whose country is one of the six NSG members opposed to a ‘clean waiver’, told IANS here Monday.

The six countries - Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland - made it clear that changes in the new draft for waiver were “minimal” and “cosmetic” and fail to address their concerns on non-proliferation.

They met Monday to decide whether they can take a common position to register their concerns on the new draft the US has circulated and wanted to be passed at the NSG meeting.

“My government received the revised draft from the US last Saturday. There was no business over the weekend. The government had its first look at the draft on Monday morning,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat added that the draft has the government’s “full attention” at the moment but it was still “unsure” over an unconditional waiver.

When the 45-member NSG met here last month, the member countries were unable to decide on the India-specific waiver without first bringing in provisions that would specify that all trade with India would end if it conducted further nuclear tests.

After its series of nuclear tests in May 1998, India has announced a voluntary moratorium on testing. But it has so far not signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that prevents countries from conducting further nuclear tests. Nor has it signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

India needs all the NSG members to agree to the “waiver” as all decisions in the Group are taken by consensus.

An Austrian diplomat studying the draft described the changes in the new draft as “minimal”.

“This is too important an issue for us to be pressured into taking a quick decision,” he said.

Diplomats asking not to be quoted by name or country said that hectic consultations among NSG members continued all Monday and some like-minded countries had an informal meeting in the afternoon.

The process was described as “fluid” three days before the NSG meet.

“We are not being difficult. We are not hardliners. We consider our nonproliferation concerns very legitimate. We respect and admire the steps taken by India in the past over nonproliferation but we are concerned about the future,” yet another western diplomat said.

The NSG waiver is essential for India so that the nuclear deal it plans to sign with the US can be put before the American Congress by this month for its final approval.

Though the six countries have taken the lead against a “clean waiver” for India, there are about 20 others that also have their reservations on granting the special concession to New Delhi without getting any firm commitment from it.

India has made it clear that it will not allow any “prescriptive” conditions in the waiver.

The new draft that the US has prepared was approved by India only after days of negotiations and consultation to ensure that its language does not contain anything that can be construed as interfering with the country’s sovereign rights.

 

[Spring Onion]

China state paper lashes India-US nuclear deal

First Published: 10:42 IST(1/9/2008)
Last Updated: 10:49 IST(1/9/2008)



China's top newspaper called a nuclear agreement between India and the United States a "major blow" to non-proliferation, raising pressure as the deal faces opposition in an international atomic cartel.

The commentary on Monday in the People's Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official paper, was a rare public response from Beijing on the controversial US proposal to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India.

Diplomats in Vienna said on Sunday that a revised US proposal to lift the ban did not sufficiently ease fears the move could compromise efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Washington needs an unprecedented exemption from the Nuclear Suppiers Group's normal rules to help seal its 2005 civilian nuclear energy deal with New Delhi. But at the group's meeting, six member nations demanded changes to ensure Indian access to nuclear markets would not indirectly help its atomic bomb programme.

Chinese officials have remained tight-lipped about the deal and given no sign they would outright block it, but official media and experts have raised worries.

The Party's official paper was unusually forthright on Monday.

"Whether it is motivated by geopolitical considerations or commercial interests, the US-India nuclear agreement has constituted a major blow to the international non-proliferation regime," said the commentary by a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading state think tank.

"Irrespective of the fate of the US-India nuclear agreement, the United States' multiple standards on non-proliferation issues have met with a sceptical world."

Without NSG approval in early September, the US Congress may run out of time for final ratification before it adjourns at the end of the month for autumn elections.

The deal is controversial since India has shunned the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which commits members to nuclear disarmament, after developing atom bombs with Western technology imported ostensibly for peaceful nuclear energy.

Experts have said China is unlikely to stymie the nuclear deal and risk pushing Delhi closer to Washington when Beijing is seeking to avoid confrontation with its rising Asian neighbour.

But many have also said that Beijing worries about how the deal will affect regional security and arms controls.

China and India, the world's two most populous nations, are forging new ties amid soaring trade and business links, though serious differences over their Himalayan border, the cause of a 1962 war, fester.

India and rival Pakistan both tested nuclear devices in 1998, raising tensions between the neighbours. Pakistan is a close partner of China.

China was not among the six nations that raised objections in the NSG meeting, but the commentary was a reminder that Beijing was irked by the nuclear agreement.

The United States' initial proposal to the NSG was "vague" and "left the concerned papers very dissatisfied", the newspaper said.

"As there is no constraining link between supply of nuclear materials and India conducting a nuclear test," it added. "India need not assume strict non-proliferation responsibilities."


China state paper lashes India-US nuclear deal- Hindustan Times

 

[nitesh]

with china not supporting the deal, it is as good as dead any way a lot of members are opposing it

 

[sunny_aus]

N-deal will take India-US ties to next level, says Rice



WASHINGTON: US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has said that the conclusion of the US-India civil nuclear deal would be a “milestone” in bilateral ties that will “push” the relationship to the “next level”.

The deal would only push the US-Indian relationship to the next level and her successors would do more work on that, she said in an interview to a magazine.

“... But I think it’s important to have certain milestones that you’re trying to achieve, to have certain work that you’re trying to finish, even if you know that the conclusion of, for instance, the US-India civil nuclear deal would not be the end of moving the US-Indian relationship forward,” Rice said.

“We’ll do more work on that, the next secretary of state will, and so will the next secretary of state,” she said according to the transcript of the interview released by the state department on Friday. “But if you can conclude something like that ...you’ve pushed it to the next level. And I’m always looking for the work that you can conclude to push something to the next level, push your relationship to the next level,” Rice said.

Describing the relationship with India as “one of those,” she said: “We set out at the beginning to try and improve, extend, broaden and deepen the US-India relationship because very early on the President (George W Bush) and I both saw it as an emerging, big democracy and the relationship’s never been very close.”

“And you can do all of the kind of small things, you know - not small things, but expected, new agricultural cooperation, new cooperation between businesses,” Rice said recalling how the Bush administration started reaching out to New Delhi.

“But the 800-pound elephant in the room was could we overcome the nuclear cooperation barrier that has existed ever since the NPT — India not signing the NPT and India being a nuclear state,” she said.

N-deal will take India-US ties to next level, says Rice- Dateline India-The Sunday ET-Features-The Economic Times

There will never be a better time for India and United States to get closer. Better economic/ strategic ties between these two largest democratic countries will change the world. And if we have a look on the political situations inside India and the reduced control of US over other members of NSG, if India and US will loose this time, then the “time” will never back again. success of Indo-US nuclear deal will take the world in 21st century. the best efforts would be made to the get deal done this “time” with minimal changes which may provide enough space for Indian government to get endorsed in Indian parliament.