Webinfosys's Updated News : Safeguards agreement is a non-issue, says ElBaradei

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei believes that an India-specific safeguards agreement is a “non-issue.” This, at a time when the Left is threatening to bring down the UPA government on this very issue.

“This is a standard procedure that we usually do. We have four of them with India… I was surprised to see the focus on the safeguards agreement. Safeguards agreement is standard procedure,” he said in an exclusive interview to the Hindustan Times on Thursday.

ElBaradei, who will speak at the annual HT Leadership Summit on Friday, said, “However, having said all that, whether and when the Government will go ahead to operationalise the deal, as we call it here, is a matter, obviously, for the Government to decide.”

The IAEA chief, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over lunch, was clear that it wasn’t his job to offer any advice to the government. “This has to do with the government and the coalition. All I said is that I subscribe fully to the objectives of the Government that they need nuclear energy for development, to be a full partner in nuclear disarmament (efforts).”

ElBaradei, who described India as a nuclear weapons state, said it would take weeks to conclude a safeguards agreement with New Delhi if negotiations were to begin tomorrow. "We are ready. I don't think we would take very long. It would be weeks, not more than weeks.

We primarily work on the basis of a standard system we operate. Obviously, we have to tailor it as India-specific. The fundamental agreement is a standard agreement." On the issue of India's right to take corrective measures should nuclear fuel supplies be suspended under the civil nuclear deal with the US, ElBaradei pointed out that the IAEA was not part of the agreement.
"Obviously, when we have discussions with the government on the safeguards agreement, India's requirements will have to be satisfied but also the IAEA's requirements and standard agreements are…(adhered to). So, this is an issue."

"But, I would not put much emphasis on these issues. To me, the important thing is to build trust. If we have a safeguards agreement, it could be a beginning to trigger a new relationship between India and the international community in the nuclear field."

Expressing total satisfaction at the manner in which existing facility-specific safeguards were being implemented, ElBaradei said India wanted to make sure that it had uninterrupted supply of nuclear fuel.

"How that is going to be done, whether we need to refer to it in the safeguards agreement, these are detailed issues, which we still need to discuss…From what I read in the (Indo-US civil nuclear) agreement, I can see that there are a number of mechanisms to provide assurances of supply." "This agreement is US-India, but it opens the way to a broad variety of cooperation agreements between India and the international community. There is also an in-built clause in the agreement, which speaks of India building a buffer stock of nuclear fuel," he added.

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Webinfosys's Updated News : Nuclear deal is good for India and world: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Friday that India's nuclear agreement with the US is an honourable deal that is good for India and good for the world, adding the Government was trying to reconcile the divergent viewpoints on the issue within the ruling coalition.

Singh said it is his hope that on the nuclear deal, common sense will ultimately prevail. Asked if he would step down if the Left does not agree to the nuclear deal, Singh quipped, "It is a suggestion for action."

He was speaking at a question-answer session at the fifth Hindustan Times Leadership Summit at the Taj Palace in Delhi.

The Prime Minister said if the Indo-US nuclear deal does not go through, 'it will be a disappointment'. "But in life one has to live with disappointments," he added. "It's not an one issue Government," he said, referring to the N-deal.

At the same time, he also asserted that it will not be the end of the world if the deal does not go through.

Asked if he is ready for the snap poll in view of the Left reluctance to go with the UPA Govt on the deal, he said 'elections are still far away and the government has one-and-a-half years to complete'.

The Prime Minister said it is his hope and expectation that the Government will stay the course and noted there are a lot of unfinished agenda left to be completed.

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Webinfosys's Updated News : Confrontation is not coalition dharma: Sonia Gandhi

Congress President Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that she was "absolutely satisfied" with the working of the Manmohan Singh government and had no regrets over not becoming the prime minister three years ago.

"I am absolutely satisfied with Manmohan's government," Gandhi told the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit when asked to rate the performance of the Congress-led government that took office in May 2004.

Gandhi, who also heads the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), said she was happy to have made Manmohan Singh the prime minister and shared an "excellent rapport with him".
Gandhi also said the government would be working to bring about a consensus with the Left on the nuclear deal issue.

She added the government was not looking for confrontation with the Left because it is not in the 'dharma' of coalition. "The dharma of coalition is to work together, try and understand and accommodate each other's view."

The UPA chairperson said there was a reason why the government did not crow about the country's economic success.

"I would not say we are embarrassed by our economic success, in fact we are proud of it. But as long as we have huge pockets of poverty in the country, we can't be glad... Yes, we talk about it, but we cannot forget that there are huge islands where people are still very poor."

She brushed aside the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'India Shining' campaign of the 2004 elections. "That campaign was a completely surreal one," she said, generating laughter. "Because it did not exist. 'India Shining' did not exist. Only for a small group of people which really make no difference to the rest of the country."

The Manmohan Singh government's aim, she added, was to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots.

To a suggestion that would she agree to if the newspapers were to come out with headlines tomorrow that 'Congress backs out, no early election and no confrontation with the Left', she shot back in lighter vein that "unless you write something like that, nobody will read your papers."

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