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Selling N-India at EU meet will be tough

Though EU member-countries will take individual decisions in the NSG, it will be good for the PM to once again push India’s case at the summit on Friday.

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NEW DELHI: Though the UPA government has once again picked up the threads of the Indo-US nuclear deal and preliminary discussions with the IAEA have resumed, a break in the discussions due to political compulsions has made New Delhi’s task much tougher.

Officials who did not wish to be identified said the controversy over the nuclear deal has encouraged nations who are members of the 45-strong Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) and have strong anti-nuclear domestic lobbies to reinforce their views about allowing India, which has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to become part of the international nuclear commerce.

During the India-EU summit scheduled later this week, the N-deal will figure prominently. Though EU member-countries will take individual decisions in the NSG, it will be good for the Prime Minister to once again push India’s case at the summit on Friday.

Portugal, which now holds the presidency of the EU, is also a member of the NSG. In fact it was Portugal, when it held the EU presidency in 2000, which had pushed for summit discussions between India and the EU.

Portugal’s relations with India have been good, yet even a friendly country is hesitant to announce support to New Delhi in the NSG. Portugese ambassador Luis Filipe Mendis refused to give a clear answer when asked if Lisbon would support a waiver for India at the NSG, during a news conference on Monday.

“We are waiting to see what happens at the IAEA negotiations. We are following this closely. We will take a decision only after the safeguards agreement between India and IAEA is through,” Mendes said. Daniele Smadja, European Commission ambassador in India, spoke on similar lines, when asked about the EU’s position on an NSG waiver for India.

“EU as a whole understands India’s interests in getting an exemption from the NSG. EU is committed to the international non-proliferation regime. We are closely watching what happens at the IAEA. But EU does not take a common position on these issues.”

While India has the backing of important EU members including Britain and France, there are a number of Scandinavian countries who do not believe in exceptions.

The summit takes off with a business meeting on Thursday.

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