Pakistan becomes new chair of IAEA board

[GUNNER]

Pakistan becomes new chair of IAEA board

Monday, 27 Sep, 2010

VIENNA: Pakistan became the new chair of the UN nuclear watchdog's governing body on Monday, despite being outside a global anti-nuclear arms pact.

Western diplomats have suggested they do not see the choice as ideal because - like India, North Korea and Israel - Pakistan has shunned the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that is at the heart of the International Atomic Energy Agency's work.

But Western powers did not oppose the nominee of a group of Middle East and South Asia member states at a meeting of the IAEA board on Monday, which approved the choice by acclamation, one diplomat who attended the closed-door session said.

Pakistan is a longstanding member of the Vienna-based IAEA and the choice was within its rules.

The one-year board chair position rotates between regions, who put forward their own nominee, and entails chairing debates of the IAEA's 35-nation decision-making body and helping them reach consensus decisions.

It does not give Pakistan individual powers to decide UN nuclear policy. Malaysia currently chairs the board.

Heaping pressure on Pakistan, a high-level UN meeting called on Friday for talks to start immediately on a treaty to ban production of fissile material used as fuel for atom arms.

Pakistan has insisted it will continue to block such talks, arguing that a ban would put it at a permanent disadvantage to India. The dispute has led to deadlock at the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. – Reuters

 

[Hyde]

ahh only 2 minutes late - i was also creating a same thread

Here is the source of above link

Pakistan becomes chair of IAEA board - GEO.tv

 

[Areesh]

I can easily predict flame and troll attack on this thread. Be ready.

 

[Tuahaa]

Flame. Troll.

That's some simulation- are you ready for the real bit?

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Awesome news... GOD BLESS PAKISTAN!

 

[Leviza]

Awesome news...
lets start to cap indian nukes ...

Please can anyone tell us details how this is help Pakistan on civil side and the world to be more safe....

 

[GUNNER]

Nuclear-armed Pakistan to chair IAEA board

AFP

VIENNA, Austria — Pakistan, which refuses to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and was home to a notorious nuclear smuggling ring, was named head of the UN nuclear watchdog's governing board here Monday.

At a special one-day meeting, the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board of governors appointed "by acclamation" the head of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission, Ansar Parvez, as its chairman for the next 12 months, taking over from Malaysia.

The board of governors is the IAEA's most important policy-making body after the 151-nation general conference and meets five times a year.

Its rotating chair is appointed for a period of one year with the main task of presiding over debates and helping the board of governors reach consensus decisions.

Parvez said he saw no problem with the choice, even though Pakistan, like India and Israel, refuses to sign the NPT.

Pakistan has held the chair before and India has done so twice.

Some observers see Pakistan as a potential problem because it was home to a nuclear-smuggling ring run by scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb and a national hero.

Khan publicly confessed in 2004 that he shared atomic secrets with Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he later retracted his remarks.

There is also concern about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and stockpile of weapons-grade material, and the danger of it falling into the hands of Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents.

But speaking to reporters after his appointment, Parvez insisted that Pakistan was a "very law-abiding member" of the IAEA.

"We have been a member of the IAEA ever since it was created. All our civil installations are under IAEA" safeguards, he said.

In fact, given Pakistan's special position, "maybe we can try to mediate in some of the things which the IAEA has been dealing with for the last few years," Parvez argued.

He said that he had heard no objections to Pakistan's nomination inside the board room.

Furthermore, it was the duty of the chair to remain neutral.

"This is just a routine change. This time it was the turn of MESA (Middle East and South Aeia group) and they unanimously nominated Pakistan," Parvez said.

Western diplomats at the closed-door board meeting on Monday also said they had no particular problem with Pakistan taking over the chair.

"They are a member (of the IAEA), as, say, Israel is," one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"I don't necessarily see it as a problem. "What matters more is the personality and the qualifications of that person. (The chair) is first among equals, not someone who can impose anything" on the overall board, the diplomat said.

US ambassador to the IAEA Glyn Davies said: "The United States of America looks forward very much to working with the Pakistani governor as chairman of the board of governors."

 

[muse]

Pakistan now chairs... and so? So what? what kinds of things are on the agenda and how will Pakistani chairmanship of the body effect the agenda?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

"Pakistan now chairs... and so? So what? what kinds of things are on the agenda and how will Pakistani chairmanship of the body effect the agenda? "


@muse and others too,
Just to understand, i had similar questions as well- how will it affect the policies of the IAEA ? Will it impact the impending Sino-Pak Nuclear deal ?
And lastly how long is the term as Chair of the IAEA ?

 

[Kambojaric]

hmm, dont like the sound of this. So Pakistan will now be expected to keep Iranian nuclear ambitions under control? Isnt that currently one of the main agendas of IAEA?

 

[Enigma]

lolx cat guarding the milk

 

[humanfirst]

Congrats pakistan.Hope this would help pakistan in persuing civilian nuclear energy in spite of opposition from hypocritical nations.

 

[Frankenstein]

lolx cat guarding the milk

errr...such Booze Jokes aren't funny anymore, try something new

 

[Materialistic]

I heard over the news that this is not the first rather third time when Pakistan is taking the chair as the Head of IAEA.

List of Director Generals

W. Sterling Cole United States 1957–1961
Sigvard Eklund Sweden 1961–1981
Hans Blix Sweden 1981–1997
Mohamed ElBaradei Egypt 1997 – Nov 2009
Yukiya Amano Japan Dec 2009–Sep 2010
Ansar Pervaiz Pakistan Sep 2010–Present



The IAEA Board of Governors has elected the Governor for Pakistan, Mr. Ansar Parvez, as its Chairman for 2010-2011 (one year mandate) at a meeting held today in Vienna.

Mr. Parvez is also serving as the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

The Ambassadors and Resident Representatives of Denmark and Ukraine were also elected as Vice-Chairmen. They are Mr. John Hartmann Bernhard, Governor for Denmark, and Ms. Olena Mykolaichuk, Governor for Ukraine.

Eleven countries were elected last week to serve on the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors for the two-year period 2010-2012. The action was taken by Member States meeting at the IAEA General Conference in Vienna. The newly elected Board members are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Chile, Ecuador, Italy, Jordan, Niger, Portugal, Singapore, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

Other Member States represented on the IAEA Board during 2010-2011 are Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Peru, Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Venezuela.

Source: Board of Governors Elects New Chair

 

[SpArK]

Pakistan in IAEA chair doesn't bother India​

NEW DELHI: Western countries are collectively choking at the thought of nuclear renegade Pakistan heading the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s governing board for the next year. But not India.

At the IAEA, India and Pakistan are often on the same side, mainly because both countries are opposed to western attempts to make the IAEA the "secretariat" of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Both India and Pakistan remain outside the NPT, but both enjoy equal privileges and rights in the IAEA.

India and Pakistan are part of the MESA (Middle East- South Asia) group in the global body. This means every eight years, the top job comes to this group and is divided between India, Pakistan and one Middle East country. In 2002, it was Kuwait which occupied the chair, India's turn was in 1994, and this year, it's Pakistan's turn.

Pakistan's choice for the job is Ansar Parvez, chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and the chief of the Chashma nuclear complex. China last week announced its intention to build two more nuclear reactors in Chashma, a deal that was not grandfathered by China when it joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

For the coming year, Pakistan will be occupied trying to work out a modus vivendi between the US and Iran on Tehran's nuclear programme. Pakistan will be in a position to help keep the primacy of the IAEA in the Iran nuclear negotiations, which is now in the UN Security Council. Recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad indicated he was willing to reopen talks on the nuclear question.

On Pakistan too, the question of safeguards for the new reactors will come up if the NSG gives a go-ahead to the China-Pakistan nuclear deal.

Pakistan chaired the IAEA board in 1962 and 1986, while India had the post in 1970 and 1994.


Read more: Pakistan in IAEA chair doesn't bother India - The Times of India Pakistan in IAEA chair doesn't bother India - The Times of India