Kakodkar meets IAEA DG on safegaurds

VIENNA: India on Wednesday initiated the process of negotiating a country-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a follow-up of the civil nuclear deal with the US after the Left parties gave clearance to the government for it.
    
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar, who arrived here early this morning, held discussions lasting less than an hour with IAEA Director-General Mohammad ElBaradei.
    
At the meeting between them here it has been decided to initiate consultations on the India-specific safeguards which will pave the way for international civilian nuclear cooperation, the IAEA said in a statement.
    
An Indian team will have meetings during this week with the IAEA secretariat here to work on the safeguards agreement, it said.
    
After months of standoff, the Left parties last week allowed the government to go ahead with the negotiations with the IAEA on safeguards agreement on the condition that it will not initial any accord but bring back the draft to the UPA-Left Committee.
    
Kakodkar, who said all aspects of the safeguards related to India will figure in the discussions with the IAEA, however, refused to comment anything after the parleys.
    
He was assisted in his talks with ElBaradei by Sheel Kant Sharma, Indian Governor in IAEA, Ravi B Grover, Director Strategic Planning Group of the Department of Atomic Energy, and an official from the External Affairs Ministry.
    
The meeting came just a day before the IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors was scheduled to meet on a range of topics.

For operationalising the deal with the US, India has to conclude the safeguards agreement with the IAEA and get clearance from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group for doing nuclear commerce with other countries. The 123 Agreement has also to get a nod from the US Congress.
    
The India-specific safeguards pact for all its civilian nuclear plants is expected to be similar to the facility- specific and material-specific agreements India has with the IAEA, official sources said.
    
In the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty parlance, the India-specific pact it will be placed under the Agency's safeguards system called Information circular (INSCIRC) of 1966, they said.
    
This is in contrast to the INSCIRC 153 meant for those who signed the nuclear NPT and non-weapon countries like Iran having 'the additional protocol' which is intrusive in nature.
    
India can benefit from the safeguards mechanism which are reactor-specific and utility-specific and would be closer to the five nuclear weapon (P-5) countries and not as a non-weapon state (country), the sources said.
    
From the IAEA the meeting was attended by Olli Heinonen, Deputy Director General, Department for Safeguards, Vilmos Cserveny, Director, External Relations and Policy Coordination, Johan Rautenbach, Director of Legal affairs and Laura Rockwood, Senior Legal advisor.