US removes offending stipulation from exemption draft submitted to NSG

New Delhi: With India expressing its unhappiness over the draft exemption text prepared for circulation amongst members of the of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),  the United States has now gone ahead and quietly quietly removed an offending portion. A line in the draft referred to a key paragraph in the NSG guidelines, under which supplier countries are asked to push the ''recipient'' - in this case, India - to accept full-scope or comprehensive safeguards, or in NSG jargon, CSA.

The draft asks NSG countries or ''participating governments (to) transfer trigger list items and/or related technology to the safeguarded civil nuclear facilities in India... as long as the participating government intending to make the transfer is satisfied that India continues to fully meet all of the aforementioned non-proliferation and safeguards commitments''.

According to India this guideline applies to non-nuclear weapon states, which is not the case with India. As is the case in the transfer of nuclear items to other nuclear weapon states (NWS), India argues it is up to the supplier country to define the safeguards requirements it intends to impose on India and that this should not be a ''front-loaded'' condition to the exemption.

If India were to accept this condition, it would in effect nullify the special safeguards agreement India has just concluded with the IAEA, which acknowledges India's special status as a non-signatory to the NPT with a clearly designated nuclear weapons and civilian programmes. India points out that smuggling in a clause that would once again seek .India's forced compliance to the NPT programme would reverse the entire basis for the deal.

The Indian objections were clarified by DAE chief Anil Kakodkar after the IAEA vote in an interview.

''India is not a non-nuclear weapon state. NSG guidelines are essentially meant for non-nuclear weapons states. Now, while India will maintain its responsible behaviour all along, we will expect the world community to also treat us the way we are. The NSG, which has comprehensive safeguards agreement as a condition for supply, is clearly not applicable in the case of India because India has its own strategic programme and it is this that has to be waived. They have to treat India as India is,'' he said.

Germany, the current chair of NSG, has called a plenary session of the group on August 21-22, with a second plenary possibly in early September.

The US text is the same one circulated by it in 2006, but with some changes that take into account the developments of the past year - the 123 agreement, safeguards agreement and the separation plan. The offending clause has now bee removed.