Nuke deal on with NSG Waiver
The 45-member Nuclear Supplier's Group agreed by consensus to alter its guidelines for India, ending its 34 year nuclear isolation, and setting the stage for global commerce with India.
Politically, the "clean waiver" will be seen as a moral booster for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that had been under mounting pressure from sceptics and political opponents at home on the India-US nuclear deal.
"It is a forward looking and momentous decision," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement within hours of the waiver decision reaching here from Vienna.
How the deal on NSG waiver was struck in Vienna
The NSG waiver for India involved three days of hectic and tough negotiations with both the proponent and skeptic countries sticking to their positions but finally reaching a common ground on Saturday morning after US prodding and deft diplomacy by New Delhi.
On the very first day of the meeting of the 45-nation grouping on Thursday, there were demands for changes in the revised draft that the US had prepared following failure to achieve consensus at the August 21-22 parleys.
As soon as the NSG reconvened for the second day, at 9.30 am (1 am IST) on Friday, work started on redrafting of the waiver to accommodate the concerns of the skeptic countries while ensuring that no clauses were incorporated which would bind India.
The major turning point came with the issuance of the statement by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in which he talked about India's abiding commitment to strengthening the nonproliferation system and unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. That statement went down well among the NSG members including the skeptic countries who saw a lot of their concerns being addressed through it.
Austria, New Zealand, Ireland and Switzerland maintained reservations. They were joined by China which raised some questions with regard to non-proliferation.
The Indian delegation led by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon worked with these countries in early morning, making all-out efforts to ally their concerns.
One by one, skeptic countries started coming around to support the significant initiative. The Chinese told the Indian delegation at 7 am that they will back the initiative. Austria was the last country to say yes, leading to a consensus.
