A historic moment for India as NSG gives it the nod

In a historic moment that ended more than three decades of nuclear isolation for India, the 45-nation
Nuclear Suppliers Group Saturday rewrote their guidelines to resume global nuclear trade with New Delhi.
The NSG’s decision to grant India a clean waiver from its existing rules, which forbid nuclear trade with a country which has not
signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), came Saturday afternoon after three days of intense diplomacy by the US
and India in the nuclear cartel that controls the global flow of nuclear fuel and technologies.
The nuclear deal is now headed for the US Congress, which meets September 8 to discuss an approval for the 123 India-US
bilateral agreement which will bring the landmark nuclear deal to its closure over three years after it was first conceptualised.
The two countries are expected to formally sign the bilateral pact, likely when Manmohan Singh goes to Washington towards
the end of September, that will restore nuclear trade with the US after a gap of 34 years.
Economic sanctions were imposed by the US and the rest of the world when India first conducted its nuclear test in 1974.
The NSG’s waiver also frees India to sign bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreements with France and Russia, leading
advocates of the nuclear deal, who also used their clout to win over sceptics in the nuclear cartel.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to sign bilateral civil nuclear cooperation with France when he goes to Paris for bilateral
talks Sep 30 after attending the India-EU summit in the coastal resort town of Marseilles.
The bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia, which was finalized last year and iniatialled early this year, will
be signed when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev comes to New Delhi in November this year.
The NSG had extended their two-day meeting in Vienna Friday by another day after marathon negotiations that went well past
midnight failed to bring sceptics around to back the nuclear deal.
Some sceptics in the nuclear club like Austria, Ireland and New Zealand, known for their hardline non-proliferation stance,
resisted till the last minute appeals by the US to accommodate India inside the global non-proliferation tent.
Austria and New Zealand, which were also supported by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, had insisted
that provisions be included in the draft on the proposed waiver that will allow NSG to terminate nuclear business with India if it
conducted another test.
India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement Thursday re-affirming New Delhi’s commitment to a ‘voluntary
moratorium’ on future testing boosted India’s case in the NSG and was praised as ‘very significant’ by NSG.
‘This is a very significant statement which was discussed by members of the NSG and praised and welcomed by those in
attendance,’ US Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Rood told reporters at the end of
the of Friday’s morning session of the NSG.
He added: ‘On the basis of this a positive momentum has been generated in the discussion and as I said before we remain
committed to achieving the objective and remain optimistic that we can achieve that.’
‘We remain committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. We do not subscribe to any arms race, including
a nuclear arms race,’ Mukherjee said in his statement issued in New Delhi before the NSG met for the second day in Vienna.
The minister’s statement and the existing guideline in the NSG that provides for termination of commerce with a country that
violates the rules and conducts a test were highlighted during Friday’s discussions among the members to convince the
sceptics who are opposed to a ‘clean waiver’ for India.
However, in the end the US’ arguments about the merits of accommodating India, the world’s most populous democracy and a
rising economy, in the global non-proliferation order prevailed. Washington also managed to convince sceptics about India’s
impeccable record in non-proliferation and how making an exception for India will be a net gain for the global non-proliferation regime.

Chronology of India’s nuclear journey

Following is the chronology of some key developments related to the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal:
1968: India refuses to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) on the grounds that it is discriminatory.
May 18, 1974: India conducts its first nuclear test.
March 10, 1978: US President Jimmy Carter signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act, following which US
ceases exporting nuclear assistance to India.
May 11-13, 1998: India tests five underground nuclear tests.
July 18, 2005: US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh first announce their intention
to enter into a nuclear agreement in Washington.
March 1, 2006: Bush visits India for the first time. March 3, 2006: Bush and Singh issue a joint statement on
their growing strategic partnership, emphasising their agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.
July 26, 2006: The US House of Representatives passes the ‘Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful
Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006,’ which stipulates that Washington will cooperate with New Delhi on
nuclear issues and exempt it from signing the Nonproliferation Treaty.
July 28, 2006: The Left parties demand threadbare discussion on the issue in Parliament.
November 16, 2006: The US Senate passes the ‘United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation and
US Additional Protocol Implementation Act’ to “exempt from certain requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954 United States exports of nuclear materials, equipment, and technology to India.”
December 18, 2006: President Bush signs into law congressional legislation on Indian atomic energy.
July 27, 2007: Negotiations on a bilateral agreement between the United States and India conclude.
Aug 3, 2007: The text of the ‘Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of India concerning peaceful uses of nuclear energy’ (123 Agreement) is released
by both governments.
Aug 13, 2007: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes a suo motu statement on the deal in Parliament.
Aug 17, 2007: CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat says the ‘honeymoon (with government) may be over
but the marriage can go on’.
Sept 4, 2007: UPA-Left committee to discuss nuclear deal set up.
Feb 25, 2008: Left parties say the UPA would have to choose between the deal and its government’s stability.
March 3, 2008: Left parties warn of ‘serious consequences’ if the nuclear deal is operationalised.
March 6, 2008: Left parties set a deadline asking the government to make it clear by March 15 whether it
intended to proceed with the nuclear deal or drop it.
March 7, 2008: CPI writes to the Prime Minister, warns of withdrawal of support if government goes ahead
with the deal.
March 14, 2008: CPI(M) says the Left parties will not be responsible if the government falls over the nuclear
deal.
April 23, 2008: Government says it will seek the sense of the House on the 123 Agreement before it is taken up for ratification by the American Congress.
June 17, 2008: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee meets Prakash Karat, asks the Left to allow the
government to go ahead with IAEA safeguards agreement.
June 30, 2008: Prime Minister says his government prepared to face Parliament before operationalising the
deal.
July 8, 2008: Left parties withdraw support to government.
July 9, 2008: The draft India-specific safeguards accord with the IAEA circulated to IAEA’s Board of Governors
for approval.
July 10, 2008: Prime Minister calls for a vote of confidence in Parliament.
July 14, 2008: The IAEA says it will meet on August 1 to consider the India-specific safeguards agreement.
July 18, 2008: Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon briefs the IAEA Board of Governors and some NSG
countries in Vienna on the safeguards agreement.
July 22, 2008: Government is willing to look at “possible amendments” to the Atomic Energy Act to ensure that
the country’s strategic autonomy will never be compromised, says Prime Minister Singh.
July 22, 2008: UPA government wins trust vote in the Lok Sabha.
July 24, 2008: India dismisses warning by Pakistan that the deal will accelerate an atomic arms race in the
sub-continent.
July 24, 2008: India launches full blast lobbying among the 45-nation NSG for an exemption for nuclear
commerce.
July 25, 2008: IAEA secretariat briefs member states on India-specific safeguards agreement.
Aug 1, 2008: IAEA Board of Governors adopts India-specific safeguards agreement unanimously.
Aug 21-22, 2008: The NSG meet to consider an India waiver ends inconclusively amid reservations by some
countries.
Sep 4-6, 2008: The NSG meets for the second time on the issue after the US comes up with a revised draft
and grants waiver to India after marathon parleys.