Vienna - India signed an inspection agreement with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday, fulfilling a
main precondition before nuclear exporting countries can start to
supply India's growing atomic power sector.
India's ambassador Saurabh Kumar signed the so-called safeguards
agreement at the IAEA's Vienna headquarters, the IAEA confirmed. In a
next step, the pact has to be ratified by the Indian government.
Under the 2006 civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United
States, the South Asian atomic weapons state agreed to separate its
military and civilian nuclear facilities.
It also pledged to place 14 power reactors under IAEA monitoring
by 2014, up from the six currently safeguarded by agency inspectors.
Last September, the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nuclear exporting
countries decided to end its supply ban for India, based on the
agreement with the US and on condition that IAEA inspections are in
place.
Currently nuclear power supplies only about 3 per cent of India's
electricity, but the government plans to increase this to 25 per cent
by 2050 to help meet the country's burgeoning energy needs.
India has already concluded nuclear cooperation agreements with
the US, France, Russia and Kazakhstan and is planning to sign one
with Canada for resumption of nuclear commerce.
After Monday's signing, the next immediate step would be to work
on the process of ratification by the Indian government, Anil
Kakodkar, chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission was quoted as
saying by the Indian PTI news agency.
The Department of Atomic Energy would also file a declaration to
the IAEA on which facilities would be placed under safeguards and in
what time frame, Kakodkar said.
A diplomat in Vienna, who did not want to be named, said India
seemed to be 'in no hurry' to ratify the treaty, as some of the 14
reactors had not been built yet.
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