Revised draft for NSG ready

Indian officials are examining the revised text of the draft India waiver to be presented at the next week's meeting of the Nuclear supplies’ group (NSG) at Vienna.

The new draft seeks to address concerns of at least 15 countries about India being given license to trade in nuclear materials even as it has refused to sign the Non-proliferation treaty (NTP), officials said.

However, the over-cautious Indian side is minutely examining the revised draft and is likely to give its clearance to the USA in a day or two.

The proposed draft would be introduced at the September 4-5 meeting of the NSG depending on whether its objective of 'unconditional' exemption is ensured.

 

The US authorities, which claimed to have finally struck a balance between addressing the concerns of the skeptic nations and India’s insistence of NSG giving it a clear and unconditional exemption.

According to official sources although the draft was worked together by a team of Indian and US officials, it would be examined independently once again to ensure that it had no hidden traps.

India’s foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon, who is in Washington, has held discussions with US Under Secretary of State William Burns on the draft, sources said.

Around 15 countries particularly New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland and Norway had proposed some 50 amendments to the draft at the last NSG meeting in Vienna.

This time again the US administration is lobbying hard with the skeptic countries to convince them of keeping India out of the nuclear circuit at their own risk.

In Delhi, David Mulford, US ambassador to India, had been meeting envoys of New Zealand, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Norway and Austria, embassy sources said.