With the International Atomic Energy Agency weighing options to deal with Iran's nuclear programme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the issue should be dealt with diplomatically as he discussed it with US President Barack Obama.
During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wide-ranging talks with his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi in Delhi, the two sides expressed their commitment to work towards establishing a strategic partnership.
Noting that the 123 Agreement between India and the US reflected deepening relationship between the two countries, top Obama Administration officials have said that it would have broader impact in the Indo-US ties.
Iran has resumed uranium enrichment, which was suspended under a deal with the European Union and critical questions remain about its atomic programme, the United Nations nuclear watchdog has said.
"Work on the PFBR is on schedule and we expect it to be completed by 2010," Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar told reporters in Delhi on Thursday evening.
The government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea also declared its total freedom from the binding force of the safeguards accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency
"India, with long-standing experience in operating nuclear plants and building human and knowledge resources, can be a guiding force for new entrants seeking to harness atomic technology for producing power."
Iran is also defying UN demands to suspend uranium enrichment and is producing more powerful centrifuges, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a strongly worded report, which is bound to renew demands from the US and its western allies for tougher sanctions against Tehran. The report is yet to be released officially, but is said to accuse Iran of not providing all information, especially relating to 'high explosives testing' relating to nuclear programme.
Pakistan's Acting Permanent Representative to the UN Farukh Amil stressed full compliance by all States with their respective safeguards obligations.
Iran on Tuesday said it will not succumb to the western pressures to compromise its 'inalienable right' to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said that Pakistan is a 'responsible nuclear state' whose atomic weapons are 'as secure as that of any other nuclear weapon state'. Statements expressing concern about the safety and security of the nuclear arsenal are 'unwarranted and irresponsible'.
Kakodakar, who returned to India after talks with the IAEA, said that the initial talks were purely technical and that the next round of talks would be held soon.
Uncertainty over the Indo-US nuclear deal cast a shadow over the first Indo-French nuclear business meet in Mumbai, which was aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in the atomic field.
India on Friday joined the United States in voting against Iran in a resolution passed by United Nations atomic watchdog IAEA censuring the Islamic nation over its controversial nuclear programme and demanding that it stop uranium enrichment.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei on Tuesday inaugurated Bhabhatron-II, an indigenously developed advanced computerised telecobalt machine for the treatment of cancer. ElBaradei, who is on a three-day trip to India, visited the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai where he inaugurated Bhabhatron-II at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer here.
'With China investing in Iran's energy sector, India cannot afford to lag behind.'
Hours after A Q Khan's release from house arrest, Britain on Friday asked Pakistan to grant International Atomic Energy Agency access to the disgraced atomic scientist to question him on his proliferation activities, particularly transferring nuclear know-how to countries like Iran and North Korea.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will undertake a three-day visit to New Delhi next week during which issues related to Iran's controversial nuclear programme and the proposed tri-nation gas pipeline are expected to dominate.
India has abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that demanded that Russia immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
China is set to ink an agreement with the UN atomic watchdog to firm up cooperation in training and nuclear safety in East Asia and the world during the ongoing visit of its chief Yukiya Amano, in the backdrop of its plans to construct two new nuclear reactors in Pakistan.
Rejecting some critics' argument as to what message the US was sending to Iran by signing a nuclear energy deal with India, Burns said, "We don't see the connection between what Iran is doing and what India seeks to do."
Mohammad ElBaradei, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency, was on Wednesday honoured with the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for his 'impassioned opposition to use of nuclear energy for military purposes.'
India has cancelled its briefing on the safeguards agreement for the members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was scheduled to be held in Vienna on July 18.The IAEA safeguards agreement is an essential step India has to take to integrate with international nuclear commerce before it secures a one-time waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.
The plant, with a capacity to produce 330 MW of electricity, is being constructed with China's assistance.
On the Indo-Pak peace process, Chatterjee said, "It is driven by the people's urge for peace and normalcy. I am confident that it will succeed."
Voicing "serious concern" over India's nuclear liability law, the United States on Friday said New Delhi could seek International Atomic Energy Agency's help in evaluating its legislation's compliance with the Convention on Supplemental Compensation.
In a confidential analysis, experts in the UN nuclear watchdog say that Iran has acquired "sufficient information" on how to "design and produce a workable" nuclear bomb, apparently from sources including disgraced Pakistani scientist A Q Khan.
However, government officials said the letter contained no details about any specific location of the second plant, or any other information that government agencies across the world would be interested in, The Daily Express reports.
Zaporizhzhia power plant spokesperson Andrey Tuz said the plant has not sustained any critical damage, although only one power generation unit out of six is operational as the fire continued at the facility.
Top space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Kasturirangan Tuesday asserted that the country was capable of dealing with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear installations.
India could expect the support of Japan at the upcoming Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting, with a senior official of the country saying that Tokyo understands New Delhi's energy needs and would adopt an approach that strengthens the non-proliferation regime.Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama noted that Tokyo had gone with consensus at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors meeting on India-specific safeguards despite having reservations.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the XVIth NAM summit in Teheran, Iran's permanent envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh said Iran's three-year presidency would showcase the "peaceful nature" of Teheran's nuclear programme and increase global support
Amid increasing uncertainty over the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement, a senior International Atomic Energy Agency official has said that nuclear energy is the way forward for the booming economies of India and China. The growth of nuclear power in China and India over the next two decades will outpace other countries, said Yury Sokolov, deputy director general and head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, IAEA.
The Indian government has come out with a nice name for its tried and tested 220MW pressurised heavy water reactor -- Bharat Small Reactor.
Some Chinese scholars wondered why India is not taking any initiative to join NPT and which will open up more options for the nation on the nuclear front.
