NSG nod to India-specific waiver unlikely, says critic
Press Trust of India
Wednesday, August 20, 2008, (Washington)
Despite intense lobbying, it is unlikely that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will approve an India-specific draft waiver to conduct nuclear trade with its members during a two-day meet scheduled to begin on Thursday, a prominent arms-control think-tank opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal has said.
"The US and India are certainly using strong-arms tactics but reports that a decision on the proposal could occur this week don't appear to match with the reality that many states of the 45-member NSG group still have significant concerns," said Daryl Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association.
The group could even postpone the case for a second or third meeting in September as certain changes would have to be made to the proposed text to get the NSG nod, Kimball claimed.
"The US, Germany and India are privately acknowledging that a second or third meeting will likely be convened sometime in September on the issue and that changes to the US' August 6 proposed text will be necessary to achieve NSG consensus," he said in an e-mail update on the Vienna meet.
"Perhaps in recognition of many difficulties the proposal faces in the NSG, Germany has reportedly invited India to present its case and answer questions from NSG countries at this week's meeting.
"The reports cite unnamed India officials as saying they are hesitant to do so. That (is) not surprising since India's participation in the discussion could force its officials to answer some uncomfortable but essential questions about its bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with the US, France, and Russia, as well as its interpretation of the India-IAEA safeguards agreement, and other issues," the official said.