IAEA talks stall on fuel supply fine print

The Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement calendar is almost certain to go awry following unexpected "technical glitches" that have emerged in the second round of talks between Indian negotiators and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the inter-governmental forum for cooperation in the nuclear field.

Top government sources close to the negotiations told Business Standard that the biggest problem was the "unconditional" guarantee" of supply of nuclear fuel to India.

For India, a nuclear test by Pakistan would mean it would also have to conduct a test. But IAEA rules do not recognise geopolitical realities and its version of an agreement with India says all fuel supply to India will be cut off if India tests again.

The second round of talks concluded on 12 December were led by Ravi B Grover, Director, Strategic Planning of the Department of Atomic Energy, and Sheelkant Sharma, India's ambassador in Vienna. A date for the next round of talks has not been set.

An agreement with IAEA is vital for India to gain access to nuclear fuel from the 45-nation Nuclear Supplier's Group (NSG).

The "unconditional" guarantee of nuclear fuel "in perpetuity" is a key element in the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement signed in June this year.

To guard against a cut-off of fuel supplies due to renewed nuclear testing, India sought and got unprecedented concessions in the agreement.

Article 5(6)b of the Agreement commits the United States to "support an Indian effort to develop a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel to guard against any disruption of supply over the lifetime of India's reactors."

The agreement also commits the United States to "join India in seeking to negotiate with the IAEA an Indian-specific fuel supply agreement" and to jointly convene with India, "a group of friendly supplier countries to include countries such as Russia, France, and the United Kingdom to pursue such measures as would restore fuel supply to India".

Fuel supply assurances were spelt out in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech in Parliament in March this year.

But in the absence of any agreement on nuclear fuel supplies in perpetuity, the third round of talks has been postponed indefinitely until after the new year.

"The third round of talks with IAEA cannot conclude this month. They (the IAEA) are doing hard technical bargaining. They have ground rules that they would like to re-emphasise," the source admitted.

"We have said in Parliament that we expect nuclear fuel supply in perpetuity. If they (the IAEA) do not agree, face-saving (for the government) will be very difficult," the source added.

Prakash Karat, leader of the CPI(M), the largest Left party that supports the government in Parliament and a major critic of the civil nuclear agreement, has said negotiations for the IAEA agreement must conclude by December so that the country knows where it stands.