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.
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 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.
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.
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.
It is paradoxical that even those members who are most crucial in the decision-making process, leave alone the public, are denied access to scrutinise the full text of the IAEA agreement while many in the international community, particularly those from the NSG countries, must be scanning it with a microscope!
Clean energy cess to hike cost for power sector.
The UPA-Left Committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal would meet in New Delhi on Tuesday with the Left parties sticking to their guns and the government saying it would seek the sense of Parliament on the matter. The Government has said it would seek 'sense of the House' on the stalled deal before it goes to the US Congress for ratification.
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.
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.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet United States President George W Bush on Monday and brief him on the progress in the negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the India-US nuclear agreement.Mukherjee will also be holding discussions with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials of the Bush administration. The visit takes place within days of Mukherjee stating that India can neither mend nor end the deal.
The government will seek the "broadest possible consensus" within the country to enable the next steps to be taken on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. "We are presently engaged in negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency for an India-specific safeguards agreement," the prime minister said. ". I believe that such co-operation is good for us, for our energy security and for the world," he said.
Indian negotiators and International Atomic Energy Agency officials will meet shortly in Vienna to iron out the differences in readying the 'agreed text' on India-specific safeguards, which is crucial to operationalise the India-United States nuclear deal.
The IAEA is developing a concept whereby countries that establish nuclear power plants with an assurance that they will not proliferate will get an 'assurance of fuel supply' for their reactors from the agency.
Playing down the fresh ultimatum from Communist Party of India-Marxist to end negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the Indo-US nuclear deal by this month-end or risk early polls, Congress on Monday noted that the talks could even be over by the year-end.
Pakistan's Islamic alliance condemned the decision by the referral of Iran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council.
The NFUP smacks of an extremist version of masochism. It's tantamount to: You, there, c'mon clobber me, but if you leave me alive I'll disembowel you!
Endorsing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance to the country that the agreement would not in any way affect the strategic nuclear programme, Sonia said from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, their policy was one of self-reliance.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's mood is "upbeat" after the Left parties gave the green signal to the government to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency for safeguard talks in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan said on Friday night.
In a major breakthrough in the nuclear deal standoff, the Left parties on Friday relented and gave clearance to the government to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency for working out an India-specific safeguards agreement.
Ahead of the crucial Left-United Progressive Alliance committee meeting in Delhi on Friday on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the outside supporters of the Centre, after allowing the government to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Thursday said they did not want the agreement to be operationalised at any cost.
Racing against time, the government made the attempt during a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top Left leaders Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan in the presence of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
India is planning a 15-fold increase in its civilian nuclear power programme in the next two decades, the UN's nuclear watchdog said on Thursday. In its latest report titled 'Year in Review 2008', the International Atomic Energy Agency said while no new reactors came online anywhere last year.
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 Netherlands, a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, has said that the export of nuclear goods for peaceful purposes to India was in conformity with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The country has also expressed its readiness to consider any proposal in this regard. However, Netherlands said that it was awaiting the finalisation of the agreement between India and the IAEA and it will formulate its final position after careful analysis of the pact.
With India virtually putting on hold its civilian nuclear agreement with the United States, Australia has decided to review its plans to sell uranium to New Delhi. Efforts for a US-India nuclear pact, which would open India to IAEA, paved the way for Australia's uranium deal with India. Following reports that the negotiations for the operationalisation of the Indo-US deal have been stalled, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia will need to consult New Delhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to brief United States President George W Bush on the developments about the India-United States nuclear agreement in the wake of stiff opposition by the Left parties. In his telephonic conversation, Singh is likely to apprise Bush about the hurdles faced by his government in taking the next steps to operationalise the deal. The Left parties have repeatedly threatened the govt of grave consequences.
The crucial meeting of the United Progressive Alliance-Left committee on the India-United States nuclear deal was held in New Delhi on Tuesday, amidst and divergent views expressed by both sides on the issue that further fuelled speculation about mid-term polls.
Most of India's oil supplies are expected to stay safe because of the country's good relations with both Russia and Iran. That would take care of over a third of India's supplies.
