Nuclear suppliers fail to reach consensus on US-India deal

Posted 08 23 2008 5:37AM

VIENNA (AFP) - Nuclear supplier nations ended a two-day meeting here Friday without reaching agreement on lifting a 34-year-old embargo on nuclear trade with India.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls the export and sale of nuclear technology worldwide, convened for two days "to discuss a US draft proposal on a statement on civil nuclear cooperation with India."

Following a full session and a series of bilateral talks, the highly secretive 45-member group issued a short statement saying only: "Participating governments exchanged views in a constructive manner, and agreed to meet again in the near future to continue their deliberations."

Diplomats who attended the discussions signalled that the US-India deal had run into stiff resistance among member states, with some setting conditions for giving approval.

The United States wants a special waiver of NSG rules for India, which refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), allowing Washington and New Delhi to cooperate in the civilian nuclear field.

A number of countries openly expressed reservations about the 2005 agreement between the United States and India.

Speaking to reporters after the talks on Friday, US Acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, John Rood, remained optimistic.

"We have completed a second day of discussions. We had a constructive and positive discussion today," Rood said.

The United States was "pleased with the results of the discussion and I remain very optimistic that we're going to continue to make progress towards this important goal," Rood continued.

"The Nuclear Suppliers Group has agreed to meet again in the near future and so we'll take up this question and this will remain something that the group continues to work through in a serious manner."

On Thursday, Rood had insisted there was "a lot of support" for the deal.

Under NSG rules, all nuclear trade with India is banned because it refuses to sign the NPT, developed atomic bombs in secret and conducted its first nuclear test in 1974.

The United States argues that the new deal will bring India into the NPT fold after 34 years of isolation and help combat global warming by allowing the world's largest democracy to develop low-polluting nuclear energy.

Critics argue that the deal undermines international non-proliferation efforts by providing US nuclear technology to a non-NPT state.

They accuse the nuclear states supporting the deal of ignoring the proliferation dangers in pursuit of commercial and political gains.

The deal must clear three major hurdles before it can come into effect.

The first came earlier this month when the International Atomic Energy Agency approved an India-specific safeguards agreement.

The NSG represents the next obstacle before the deal must finally be approved by the US Congress. Unanimous approval is required from the group.

Diplomats said that a number of countries had tabled conditions before the

nuclear suppliers would give the green light.

Reacting to the failure to reach consensus, Daryl Kimball, non-proliferation expert and executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said: "A number of NSG states have the common sense and courage to propose some common-sense restrictions and conditions on nuclear trade with India to reduce the risk that such trade will assist India's nuclear bomb programme."

The waiver as it currently stood "would be a serious mistake that would blow a hole in the nuclear nonproliferation system," he told AFP.

Washington and New Delhi "will now try to wordsmith the NSG guideline on India to the point of being meaningless and force a decision at the next NSG meeting," Kimball said.

Nevertheless, a decision "that will have an impact for decades to come" should not be rushed, the expert said.

"It is vital that the NSG states agree to guidelines relating to India that are unambiguous and clear. At a minimum, the NSG make clear that nuclear trade with India shall be terminated if it resumes testing for any reason. If India cannot agree to such terms, it suggests that India is not serious about its nuclear test moratorium pledge."