IAEA safeguards not just for US, Govt to tell Left

With CPI(M) stalwarts like Jyoti Basu and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee speaking out in favour of nuclear power, but against the strategic partnership with the US, the Government is looking to convey to the Left, when they meet next on October 5, that the safeguards agreement is a must for cooperation in this sector with any country, not just the US.

According to Government sources, the negotiations on an India-specific agreement with the IAEA should be seen independent of the Indo-US nuclear deal as it is not about the US alone, but a mandatory requirement if India is keen to import fuel and civilian nuclear reactors from countries like Russia, France and even China. None of these countries, sources said, would consider export to India if there is no safeguards agreement. While Russia is committed to build more reactors at Kudankulam, it no longer wants to upset the Nuclear Suppliers Group which was very critical of Moscow when it went ahead with the supplies. And for NSG to make an exemption for India, an IAEA safeguards agreement is the starting point.

While DAE chief Anil Kadodkar did not want to comment on the import of the IAEA agreement, ahead of IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei’s scheduled visit to India in October second week, former AEC chairman MR Srinivasan told The Indian Express that having the safeguards agreement is a “must” for the country’s civilian nuclear programme.

Given that the Left is preparing to force the Government to take a position on the safeguards agreement when the two sides meet again this week, the Centre is likely to underline the importance of the talks with IAEA regardless of the fate of the nuclear deal. Sources pointed out that these talks are about opening cooperation with 45 members of the NSG and must not be seen through the prism of Indo-US ties alone. The India-specific IAEA agreement, they added, is a pre-condition and a first step before even starting negotiations with any country. As an umbrella agreement, this document would provide the confidence among major players in this sector to cooperate with India.