India hopes to wrap up a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency later this month in Vienna, before approaching the Nuclear Suppliers Group, for changes to permit international nuclear commerce. India needs to reach a safeguards agreement and then get the nod of the 45-member NSG for operationalising the India-United States civil nuclear agreement.
"If we remain dependent on foreign technologies, we can never become world leaders and we cannot survive the global competition unless we achieve global leadership at least in some areas where we have strength," Kakodkar said at the convocation of Pt Ravi Shankar Shukla University in Raipur.
"There is no denying the fact that we voted against Iran at IAEA. The intention was to ensure that its nuclear issue does not go to the Security Council as it would entail sanctions and more problems," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while rejecting allegations that India's foreign policy was being affected by the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The European Union is following with great interest India's discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the civilian nuclear agreement and will take a decision on supporting India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group after studying all the developments.
The safeguards issue is unlikely to come up at Thursday's meeting of IAEA's Board of Governors and will come up for approval at a special Board meeting later. IAEA Director General Mohamed El-Baradei and Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar initiated the talks.
The Centre is reviewing the security measures at nuclear power plants across the country, in the wake of the recent terror strikes in Mumbai, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said on Thursday."Several security measures have already been put in place. We are reviewing in the context of what happened in Mumbai and certainly whatever additional (security), which are necessary, we will put in place," he said.
France on Thursday said it wanted to increase civil nuclear cooperation with India, but only after New Delhi implemented the legal framework. ''We want to move further, but first we need India to sign an agreement with the nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, and also to negotiate the exemption agreement with the Nuclear Suppliers' Group,'' visiting French Minister for Higher Education and Research Valerie Pecresse told a press conference in New Delhi.
The Hyde Act, signed into law by President Bush in December last year, grants the President authority to waive certain sections of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the 1978 Nuclear Nonproliferation Act
Investigators have revealed that an 'insider' is involved in the contamination of drinking water at the Kaiga nuclear plant in Karwar, Karnataka, and that they were questioning 10 people from the set-up in this regard.
India on Friday said it could not ignore the conclusions of the International Atomic Energy watchdog IAEA on Iran's nuclear enrichment programme before deciding to vote against Tehran, but felt the door for dialogue with it should be open.
US Congress fires first salvo on the eve of ElBaradei's visit to India and even before the 123 Agreement is presented to NSG, presents laundry list of concerns in legislation.
Confirming this, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said, "Before the meeting started, the amendment was withdrawn."
Rock samples analysed in isotope laboratory of the University of Tuebingen in Germany have revealed uranium content to be as high as 5.36 per cent compared to around 0.1 per cent or less in ores present elsewhere in the country.
India will have to request the NSG to relax its restrictions on the transfer of nuclear technology and fuel.
Former Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar on why India must not go ahead with the 123 Agreement with the US
Lauding India's track record on non-proliferation, Japan said it has been a "good boy" despite remaining outside Non Proliferation Treaty regime, but New Delhi should shoulder the responsibility to strengthen the NPT regime.
Amid the diplomatic and political storm generated by the disclosures on the India-United States nuclear deal, US Ambassador to India David Mulford met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday and sought to clarify Washington's stand.Although officials were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the meeting, sources said Mulford told the Prime Minister that no new conditions had been introduced.A senior US embassy official sought to play down the meeting.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, who was part of the Indian delegation that held talks with the US side, on Thursday confirmed that the deal was clinched.
Pakistan plans to ask Bush to allow American investors, in line with IAEA safeguards.
The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and an early ratification of the LNG deal already signed between the two countries.
'What did he (Kalam) know about extracting, making explosive grade? He didn't know a thing. By being a President, he appeared to wear the stature. He relied on atomic energy to gain additional stature,' said Sethna about Kalam while talking to CNN-IBN.
An Indian-American Republican leader has questioned the characterisation of Senator Edward Kennedy, who died last week, as an "unsung hero" of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.
With the Nuclear Suppliers Group draft set to be amended because of demands from some member countries, the government in Delhi on Sunday held a high-level meeting to analyse the new development and discuss options available to it. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee held hour-long discussions with Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Nuclear Deal Shyam Saran and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Atomic Energy on the issue.
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar on Saturday met representatives from various NGOs in Meghalaya, in an attempt to acquire their consent for uranium mining in the state.In view of the opposition to uranium mining by various NGOs and at least two political parties the Hill State People's Democratic Party and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement the state government had earlier constituted two expert committees to study the possible impact of mining.
The decision has been taken in view of the threat of nuclear material being stolen by the terrorist outfits operating in various parts of the country.
Earlier in the day, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei had endorsed the India-specific safeguards agreement, asserting that it conformed to "all legal requirements" of his agency and that talks had begun on a system of extended inspections.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday expressed hope that India will get the support of all member countries during its negotiations on the nuclear deal but noted that it would be difficult to fix an exact timeframe for making the agreement a reality.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to meet on August 1 to discuss the India-specific safeguards agreement.
The Left too, assuming it finds it possible to lay aside its fundamental objections (subservience to the US, infringement of India's sovereignty) to the main nuclear deal, would find little in the contents of the agreement to which it can take serious exception.
The Left parties on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the government for approaching the International Atomic Energy Agency for the safeguards agreement in the nuclear deal before a trust vote in Parliament, terming the move as a "shocking betrayal of a moral commitment" made to the country.
Stepping up the ante, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has declared that India will approach the IAEA on the Indo-US nuclear deal very soon and the process will move very fast. Talking tough, he said he would discuss the nuke deal with US President George W Bush and other leaders and seek their support. He also said he was ready to face Parliament for a trial of strength.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Paris on Monday night on a visit which is expected to help India and France "build" a strategic partnership in atomic energy, defence, trade and other key areas. Singh was accorded a warm welcome on his arrival to the French capital .
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday played down the Left parties' threat to withdraw support from the United Progressive Alliance government over the nuclear deal. Once negotiations are over on the nuclear deal the government will come to Parliament before operationalising the deal, Dr Singh said.
The victory of Yukia Amano of Japan over his nearest rival, South Africa's Abdul Minty, is clearly a victory for the "watchdog" role of the IAEA. The resistance to him till July 2, 2009, by the developing countries stemmed from the fear that he, representing as he does the only country in the world which became a victim of a nuclear attack, would turn the Agency into a ferocious watchdog rather than a benevolent advocate of atoms for peace
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday to discuss the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement. Mukherjee asked the Left Front to allow the United Progressive Alliance government to go ahead with the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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