Tuesday, August 23, 2011
India's concern on ENR norms
From The Hindu
With a few days left before the India-United States Strategic Dialogue kicks off in New Delhi, a top Indian official here said India had conveyed to the U.S its “concern” at the changes made to Nuclear Suppliers Group's guidelines for sale of Enrichment and Reprocessing technology.
While there is still an open question on whether the U.S.' subsequent reassurances that the “clean waiver” granted to India for ENR sales will supersede the wording of the new guidelines restrictive passed by the NSG, the Indian official nevertheless reiterated that ENR technology continued to be “an important issue for India.”
The official added that both in this context as well as regarding foreign partners in India's civilian nuclear energy programme India was not only holding discussions with the U.S., but also with Russia and France in parallel.
Confirming that the Indian nuclear operator, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, and U.S. companies were nevertheless currently involved in detailed discussions on legal and design aspects of prospective joint nuclear projects, the official however expressed optimism that Strategic Dialogue would lead to progress on this front.
In particular the official noted that new regulations relating to the implementation of the nuclear liability bill would be finalised in the months ahead.
Official sources here also added that for the first time the India-U.S. discussions would directly focus upon West Asia, including a discussion of recent developments in West Asia.
Similarly while India's and the U.S.' engagements in East Asia and the United Nations have already been a subject of discussion even before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi last year, that will again be an agenda item next week, an official added.
Mirroring the broad structure of the first round of the Dialogue that was held in Washington last summer, the second round will also consider the entire gamut of cooperative efforts in five key areas including defence and counter-terrorism cooperation; energy and climate; economics, trade and agriculture; science, technology, health and innovation; and education, development and empowerment.
With a few days left before the India-United States Strategic Dialogue kicks off in New Delhi, a top Indian official here said India had conveyed to the U.S its “concern” at the changes made to Nuclear Suppliers Group's guidelines for sale of Enrichment and Reprocessing technology.
While there is still an open question on whether the U.S.' subsequent reassurances that the “clean waiver” granted to India for ENR sales will supersede the wording of the new guidelines restrictive passed by the NSG, the Indian official nevertheless reiterated that ENR technology continued to be “an important issue for India.”
The official added that both in this context as well as regarding foreign partners in India's civilian nuclear energy programme India was not only holding discussions with the U.S., but also with Russia and France in parallel.
Confirming that the Indian nuclear operator, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, and U.S. companies were nevertheless currently involved in detailed discussions on legal and design aspects of prospective joint nuclear projects, the official however expressed optimism that Strategic Dialogue would lead to progress on this front.
In particular the official noted that new regulations relating to the implementation of the nuclear liability bill would be finalised in the months ahead.
Official sources here also added that for the first time the India-U.S. discussions would directly focus upon West Asia, including a discussion of recent developments in West Asia.
Similarly while India's and the U.S.' engagements in East Asia and the United Nations have already been a subject of discussion even before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi last year, that will again be an agenda item next week, an official added.
Mirroring the broad structure of the first round of the Dialogue that was held in Washington last summer, the second round will also consider the entire gamut of cooperative efforts in five key areas including defence and counter-terrorism cooperation; energy and climate; economics, trade and agriculture; science, technology, health and innovation; and education, development and empowerment.
Labels: ENR, Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, Indo-U.S. strategic dialogue, NSG
ENR guidelines do not detract from India waiver: U.S.
From The Hindu
Despite the Nuclear Suppliers Group this week adopting controversial new guidelines restricting the sale of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology to certain nations, the United States insisted that it continued to fully support the “clean” waiver granted to India as an exception to such restrictions.
The “new” guidelines were said to be similar in some respects to their 2008 version, according to which countries that are not members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or are not subject to full-scope safeguards of their nuclear facilities, would not be eligible to purchase ENR technology from NSG members.
Yet the State Department said on Thursday, “Nothing about the new ENR transfer restrictions agreed to by NSG members should be construed as detracting from the unique impact and importance of the U.S.-India agreement or our commitment to full civil nuclear cooperation.”
Neither the State Department nor the White House provided any further explanations on the apparent contradiction between the wording of the new NSG guidelines and the assumption that ENR sales to India would remain unaffected.
However State Deparment officials said in a public statement that the NSG guidelines’ references to the NPT, including those on ENR transfers, “in no way detract from the exception granted to India by NSG members in 2008 and in no way reflect upon India’s non-proliferation record.”
The State Department also defended the passage of the new restrictions at the NSG meeting in the Netherlands this week on the basis that all such efforts by the NSG to strengthen controls on ENR transfers were “consistent with long-standing U.S. policy that pre-dates the Civil Nuclear Agreement and have been reaffirmed on an annual basis by the G-8 for years.”
Arguing that the new guideline reflected “a consensus among all NSG members,” a State Department spokesperson also underscored that the references to the NPT contained within the guidelines “reinforce the commitment of NSG members to prevent the transfer of items that could be used for weapons purposes, which is the mission of the regime itself.”
Despite the Nuclear Suppliers Group this week adopting controversial new guidelines restricting the sale of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology to certain nations, the United States insisted that it continued to fully support the “clean” waiver granted to India as an exception to such restrictions.
The “new” guidelines were said to be similar in some respects to their 2008 version, according to which countries that are not members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or are not subject to full-scope safeguards of their nuclear facilities, would not be eligible to purchase ENR technology from NSG members.
Yet the State Department said on Thursday, “Nothing about the new ENR transfer restrictions agreed to by NSG members should be construed as detracting from the unique impact and importance of the U.S.-India agreement or our commitment to full civil nuclear cooperation.”
Neither the State Department nor the White House provided any further explanations on the apparent contradiction between the wording of the new NSG guidelines and the assumption that ENR sales to India would remain unaffected.
However State Deparment officials said in a public statement that the NSG guidelines’ references to the NPT, including those on ENR transfers, “in no way detract from the exception granted to India by NSG members in 2008 and in no way reflect upon India’s non-proliferation record.”
The State Department also defended the passage of the new restrictions at the NSG meeting in the Netherlands this week on the basis that all such efforts by the NSG to strengthen controls on ENR transfers were “consistent with long-standing U.S. policy that pre-dates the Civil Nuclear Agreement and have been reaffirmed on an annual basis by the G-8 for years.”
Arguing that the new guideline reflected “a consensus among all NSG members,” a State Department spokesperson also underscored that the references to the NPT contained within the guidelines “reinforce the commitment of NSG members to prevent the transfer of items that could be used for weapons purposes, which is the mission of the regime itself.”
Labels: Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, NPT, NSG
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