Lobbying for the Indo-US nuclear deal, India on Friday briefed the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors and some Nuclear Suppliers Group countries on the safeguards agreement amid reports that there was no sign of opposition to the accord.
The parties agreed to the provision of emergency energy assistance to North Korea in the initial phase, and aid equivalent to 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil will also commence within 60 days, the statement said.
"My visit has cleared the air and created a positive atmosphere for future relationship with the IAEA," ElBaradei told a crowded press conference.
'To suddenly give the impression of taking a position that is hostile to Iran, or, at least, not friendly to Iran, is not a good thing.'
Not satisfied with the UPA's replies to their queries on the nuclear issue, the Left parties are likely to ask the government to finalise an India-specific safeguards agreement with International Atomic Energy Agency only after the 123 agreement with the US lapses.
Amid warning by the UN nuclear watchdog that Iran could be hiding multiple secret nuclear sites, the UN and Iranian officials have been secretly engaged in negotiating a deal to allow Tehran keep most of its nuclear programme and end sanctions in return for co-operation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, a news report said on Tuesday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday questioned the safety of nuclear weapons in the hands of Pakistan, and said they should be taken under monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
DAE officials, who had marathon discussions for the last two days in Mumbai on the issue of safeguards to be discussed with the IAEA, received confirmation of an appointment with ElBaradei on Sunday night to initiate negotiations, the DAE sources said.
While the final military and intelligence assessment has yet to come, Trump has repeatedly claimed to have "completely and totally obliterated" Tehran's nuclear programme.
UN atomic energy chief Mohammed El-Baradei began a three-day visit to India as the ruling United Progressive Alliance-Left alliance appeared headed for a break-up over the India-United States civil nuclear energy pact.
The United Progressive Alliance-Left stand-off on Indo-US nuclear deal notwithstanding, the Indian Atomic Energy department is holding consultations with International Atomic Energy Agency for working out a safeguards agreement.
The CIA's confirmation comes amid reports claiming that the US strikes did not destroy nuclear sites in Iran as claimed by President Donald Trump or his administration.
The notification formalities were completed on Thursday night, a crucial step in paving way for the implementation of international civil nuclear cooperation, Department of Atomic Energy sources said.
The United Nations nuclear watchdog is contemplating to set up a reserve nuclear fuel bank for supplying fuel to countries, which have renewed interest in expanding their atomic energy programme.
Over the years, India-EU ties have grown, and covered trade, investment, climate change, science and technology, space, digital, mobility, and connectivity.
In a statement released on Friday, the United Nations Atomic Watchdog said it is monitoring the situation very closely.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammad ElBaradei hailed India as a "leading advocate" for nuclear disarmament and asked the world to listen to its "voice" on elimination of all nuclear weapons. "India called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons as far back as 1948. It is important that India's voice should continue to be heard.
India will begin another round of talks with the global nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna from Monday for negotiating the safeguards agreement, a pre-requisite for the India-United States nuclear agreement. The Indian delegation, led by R B Grover, a top official in the Department of Atomic Energy, reached Vienna today for the talks, which are expected to go on till the month-end.
Notwithstanding the Left parties' threat to the government not to carry forward the safeguards talks with IAEA beyond December, India opened the second round of discussions with the nuclear watchdog.
There is no shortage of uranium on the planet.
In an election at a special one-day meeting in Vienna, IAEA's 35-member board of governors appointed Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's head, Ansar Parvez, as its chairman for the next one year. The Board is the most important policy-making body after the 151-nation general conference.
Agreements may provide rights but this does not mean asserting them or implementing them will be easy. India may consider itself to be on firm legal ground in invoking Paragraph 29, for example, in order to deal with the consequences of a fuel supply disruption, but the political opposition it will encounter internationally could be formidable. Some of this political opposition could even be couched in legal terms.
China is ready to "explore cooperation with all countries for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the rules of the IAEA," said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
The announcement comes three days after the International Atomic Energy Agency demanded that Teheran freeze all operations connected with uranium enrichment or face possible retaliation.
'Bharat Small Reactors are essentially similar to the existing 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. The existing regulations are applicable for BSRs.'
India's first report on safety of civilian nuclear power plants was presented on Thursday at the Convention of Nuclear Safety at Vienna by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman S K Sharma. India's complete compliance with obligations under all the relevant articles of the convention in a 206-page report was presented by Sharma at the International Atomic Energy Agency, AERB Secretary Om Pal Singh told PTI in Mumbai.
India and the International Atomic Energy Agency will hold negotiations in New Delhi on Saturday on the proposed Safeguards Agreement.
Anil Kakodkar will also discuss with IAEA representatives an Additional Protocol.
Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar on Tuesday expressed optimism about clinching an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"Our aim is to bring the nuclear power plant into production by 2015," Chief of country's Atomic Energy Commission Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan was quoted as saying by the New Age newspaper on Monday.
The Left-UPA committee, that has been constituted to look into the apprehensions voiced by the Left Front, is likely to meet on November 18. In the meeting, the Left Front may clear the government's move to approach the international atomic watchdog but without committing anything in writing, Left sources said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a luncheon meeting with Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan last week, had sought their nod for the government to approach the IAEA.
Ahead of a key global summit on atomic security, China on Tuesday defended its nuclear cooperation with Pakistan as "mutually beneficial" and in accordance with international safeguards.
The BRICS nations condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, advocated for a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, and criticized rising tariffs during their summit in Rio de Janeiro. They also addressed global challenges and called for reforms in international institutions.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
India on Wednesday said Iran should fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency with a view to restoring confidence of the international community that its nuclear programme is peaceful in nature.
India on Monday signed a key safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency to allow inspection of additional civilian reactors, clearing the decks for supply of atomic fuel and technology by the international community after a 34-year-old nuke trade embargo was lifted last year.
The sanctions by Western nations came in response to a report by the UN atomic watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran's nuclear programme and after their proposal to impose new sanctions in the United Nations was blocked due to opposition from Russia and China.
An additional protocol to the nuclear safeguards agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the US, giving the agency better access to nuclear sites has entered into force, making America the last of the five atomic-weapon states party to the global non-proliferation pact.
The report also said that without greater transparency and spot checks, the International Atomic Energy Agency cannot affirm that Tehran's nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes to produce energy and not weapons.
