Is the military junta in Myanmar trying to acquire a military nuclear capability with North Korean assistance? Or is North Korea trying to shift some of its nuclear facilities to Myanmar to protect them from a possible attack by the US?
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday asked the government to suspend all further action on the Indo-US nuclear deal until it proves its majority in the Lok Sabha. The party also sought an assurance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the draft of safegaurd agreement sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency would be withdrawn if he loses the trust vote.
'India should not succumb to the US ploy and help their approach by over-dramatizing the importance of the 123 Agreement to the Indian public.'
Even before it faces the confidence vote in the Lok Sabha, the government will brief the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors in Vienna on July 18 on the India-specific safeguards agreement, which the board is likely to discuss on August 1 to help the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal. India on Monday informed the 35 member-countries on the board of governors about the July 18 briefing, IAEA sources said.
A crucial meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to build a consensus on India-specific safeguards accord essential to help implement Indo-US nuclear deal has been postponed from July 28 and is likely to be held on August 1, IAEA sources said.
The challenge before the Congress is to get its arithmetic right and mount an operation that is foolproof, particularly after the way things were botched up in Srinagar
Unfazed over the Left's decision to withdraw support to UPA government, the Congress on Tuesday said there was no threat to the Manmohan Singh-led ministry and that it would prove its majority in Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Japan on Monday to attend the G-8 summit, met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss various issues listed on the summit's agenda, including the climate change which tops it.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will leave for Tokyo for the G8 Summit at 8 am on Monday. Dr Singh will met US President George Bush on July 9.
If the government has the courage to defy its leftist allies, there is no better time to tackle these issues than now.
Natwar Singh had remarked that India shouldn't vote in case of a stronger stand.
New Delhi has made it clear that the issue of reprocessing of spent fuel is 'non-negotiable' and it is committed to retaining the right to do so.
Left wants India to abstain during IAEA vote on Iran
Left parties have decided to launch a nationwide campaign against the centre's decision to support IAEA resolution against Iran.
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have discovered that Iran had produced and experimented with Polonium.
The Left parties have slammed the government for the vote.
Denying that India acted under US pressure in voting against on Iran's nuclear programme at IAEA, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said New Delhi's stand gave more time for diplomacy.
As uncertainty over the fate of the civil nuclear deal continues, the United States has said the pact is likely to clear the hurdles at International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, but the 'main stumbling block' is the internal political process in India. "If the Indian government approves it, I do think that then what remains is to get an agreement with the IAEA and with the NSG. But I think those things are definitely feasible." John Negroponte said.
India has said that it has difficulty with parts of the IAEA draft.
During the visit, Russia is expected to finalise agreements on giving four more reactors in the Kudankulam project.
Ahead of their crucial meeting with the United Progressive Alliance on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Left parties will meet on Monday to chalk out their line of action on the issue. The government is likely to brief the Left parties on the over three-month long negotiations it held with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the safeguards agreement during the UPA-Left committee meet.
Kakodkar met the prime minister on Wednesday and briefed him about concerns on the nation's security as well as the country's three-stage nuclear power programme following the passage of US Congress bill on December 8.
Maintaining its strident opposition to the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the Chinese state media has accused Washington of contradicting its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
There is disappointment that such a high profile agency with great potential for peace and development has not attracted the enormous talent available wide world outside the Vienna International Centre, says T P Sreenivasan.
Senators Joseph Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wedensday, said if the deal is not taken up in the US Congress by June and the process completed during the tenure of President George W Bush, any new US administration will renegotiate the deal.
Dr Kakodkar made light of the suggestion that the NSG would meet only in April 2007, which could possibly impact the deal.
He hoped that relations between the two countries will not be adversely affected if the Indo-US civil nuclear deal does not go through the American Congressional processes.
The four-day talks that concluded on Saturday were originally considered to be a final round but the draft text could not be completed, IAEA sources said, adding that there was also no meeting point on the issue of corrective measures to be undertaken in the event of stoppage of fuel to power plants.
Dhirendra Singh on Tuesday assumed charge as the new divestment secretary, following Monday's high level bureaucratic reshuffle.
Several NSG countries like Britain, France and Russia besides the US have expressed their approval of the deal but some of its members, particularly the Scandinavian nations, have reservations.
What does the prime minister's position on the nuclear deal mean? What does the Congress want from the issue? What does the Left stand to gain? Sheela Bhatt explains.
"'If the Congress agrees to freeze the deal, then, no country in the world will deal with India in future. Every time you go for negotiations, other countries will ask 'Have the Left parties given you permission to have the deal?'"
Reports said that soon after the first explosion, a second bomb explodes in the commercial area.
"Our position is unchanged. You can draw your own conclusions from that," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi.
