India not concerned over G-8 declaration on nuclear issue

V Mohan Narayan

Paris, Jul 14 (PTI) India is not unduly perturbed by
the decision of the G-8 group of industrialised nations to
impose curbs on full nuclear cooperation on certain countries
and feels it shouldn't affect any of the existing agreements
it has on civil nuclear cooperation.

India feels that G-8 attempts to restrict enrichment
and reprocessing (ENR) go back to 2004 and were not
specifically directed at it. Hence, the decision is not new.

At last week's G-8 summit in Italy, the US persuaded
world's richest nations to ban the transfer of enrichment and
reprocessing items to countries that have not signed the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty including India.

Informed sources pointed out that the G-8 decision was
for all ENR transfers and not directed only against India. New
Delhi shares the G-8 concern to the extent that everyone
should not have free access to sensitive technologies.

If this is easily available all over the world it
could spell danger if it gets into wrong hands.

India feels that the G-8 decision does not affect the
sale of nuclear reactors and fuel or hamper in any way its
right to reprocess spent fuel on the basis of bilateral
agreements with individual countries.

New Delhi also holds that the G-8 view does not have
the approval of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group which
had extended last year a clean waiver to India without
conditions to do nuclear commerce.

"So far as the civil nuclear cooperation is concerned,
the appropriate agency is International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and the 45-member NSG. We have got clean waiver from
NSG. We are not deeply concerned (over G-8 declaration)...,"
Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Rajya Sabha
(Upper House of Indian Parliament) Monday.

Mukherjee, who was External Affairs Minister when
India got waiver from the NSG and signed India specific
safeguards agreement with IAEA last year, was responding to
opposition members' concern on the G-8 declaration at Italy.

The nuclear issue is likely to figure during talks
between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here
on a two-day visit, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tuesday.

As far as India is concerned, the NSG waiver was an
unanimous decision to which the G-8 countries were a party and
that is the agreement that it intends to go by.

India feels that the NSG will have to get back to it
if the grouping feels the need to look for any changes.

New Delhi looks the G-8 view as individual decision by
certain countries. The practical effect on India it is argued,
is so far zero since New Delhi does not need enrichment and
reprocessing technologies.

Even so, New Delhi would not like to see any dilution
of India's eligibility for full civil nuclear cooperation.
India would like to study the G-8 document in detail. PTI VMN
DDC
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