IAEA briefs members on safeguards draft

July 7 was circulated among the 144 member states on July 9. On Friday, the IAEA secretariat briefed the members to clarify their queries and doubts, sources said.

The briefing was a closed-door affair and it is learnt that a few technical and some political queries were put forth by the members. Some member countries wanted to know about India’s status as nuclear weapons state, on corrective measures and on the non-hindrance clause and Article 4, the sources said.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on July 18 had briefed the IAEA Board of Governors and some NSG countries on the safeguards agreement.

Menon also held talks with IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei, who endorsed the nuclear deal as a boost for non-proliferation and peaceful use of relatively clean nuclear energy in the developing world.

The meeting on August 1 of the IAEA Board of Governors will discuss the draft safeguards agreement. Approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA Board is an important step in the operationalisation of the nuclear deal.

After IAEA’s approval, India and the US must win clearance from NSG that regulates sensitive nuclear trade, followed by a ratification by the US Congress for the agreement to be implemented.

The NSG is expected to have an extraordinary meeting in mid-August to deliberate on the India-specific safeguards to clear way for the operationalisation of the deal.