Further progress on India waiver at NSG talks

VIENNA:  Further progress was made on Friday at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) towards reaching a consensus for a waiver to India as the United States expressed optimism over achieving the "objective".
      
A statement issued by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi affirming India's commitment to non-proliferation goals sent out the right signals and boosted its case before the 45-member nuclear cartel, which welcomed and praised it.
      
A few countries are still said to be having some questions, particularly on the issue of nuclear testing by India, when they put forth their expressions during the morning session on the second day of the NSG meeting.  Efforts are still under way to assuage their concerns, diplomats said.
      
"We are pleased that there was a positive momentum in the discussions," John Rood, US acting Under Secretary for Arms Control, said before lunch break.
       
He called Mukherjee's statement regarding India's commitment to non proliferation as "very significant" and said it was discussed by the NSG members who "praised and welcomed" it.
      
"On the basis of this we believe a positive momentum was generated in the discussions," Rood said.
       
The US official emphasised that his country remained committed to securing the exception for India and was optimistic on achieving the goal.
       
"We are both committed to achieving the objective and achieving consensus and are optimistic that we can achieve the goal," he said.
     
The idea of Mukherjee making a statement to mollify the concerns of countries with strong views on proliferation was discussed by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Prime Minister's special envoy Shyam Saran with representatives of these countries last night informally.
     
During the lunch break, diplomats of these countries also got in touch with their governments to brief them on Mukherjee's statement and to get their response.
     
In his statement Mukherjee also said India would  abide by its voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing and will not be a source of proliferation of sensitive technologies, including enrichment and reprocessing transfers.
     
India will work with the international community to advance the common objective of non-proliferation.
      
India's assertion came as four countries of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) stuck to their reservations on the waiver issue at the two-day meeting of the cartel in Vienna.
      
They felt that India could use the NSG exemption to further its military nuclear programme.
      
New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, and Switzerland have sought changes in the draft proposed by the US which projected the waiver as a "historic opportunity" to bring the largest democracy and one of the biggest economies into the global nuclear mainstream.
       
An NSG waiver is a key step in the operationalisation of the nuclear deal which will go to the US Congress for approval once the atomic cartel gives the green light.