India submits atom pact for IAEA approval

Enlarge Photo Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman of the IAEA gestures during a press briefing at IAEA Vienna headquarters... Slideshow: Day in pictures: 10th August 2008

Wed, Jul 9 10:55 PM

VIENNA (Reuters) - India's draft nuclear safeguards accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency has been given to the IAEA's board of governors for approval, the U.N. watchdog said on Wednesday.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the pact, a key condition for putting a U.S.-India nuclear cooperation treaty into effect, had been sent to the agency's 35-nation board after India's government gave the green light for the move.

"At the request of the government of India, the IAEA Secretariat today circulated to members of the IAEA board of governors for their consideration the draft of an 'Agreement with the Government of India for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities'," Fleming said.

"The chairman of the board is consulting with board members to agree on a date for a board meeting when the agreement would be considered," she said in a statement.

IAEA diplomats said earlier there was talk of a special governors meeting in Vienna on July 28 to discuss the safeguards text, agreed with agency experts early this year but kept out of board hands for months by communist opposition in New Delhi.

There was no immediate Indian comment on the IAEA's announcement, which came shortly after the communists declared they were pulling out of India's governing coalition in protest against the U.S.-India deal.

India's government had said earlier it would take steps to advance the long-stalled U.S.-Indian nuclear deal only after securing a new governing majority needed to keep it alive, something it has yet to do.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government on Wednesday began the hard task of cobbling together votes to survive a no-confidence motion, expected within weeks, after the pullout of communist allies.

The government, led by Singh's Congress party, believes it has enough votes to escape an early election after securing the backing of the regional Samajwadi Party, but the result could be close.

India still needs the approval of IAEA governors, then the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, where there are reservations because India is outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and finally ratification by the U.S. Congress.

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