Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on
Tuesday approved additional nuclear inspection measures for India,
which the country has yet to ratify before it can receive imports for
its growing nuclear energy sector.
The so-called Additional Protocol will grant IAEA inspectors
greater powers to probe India's nuclear exports, in addition to the
standard inspections envisioned in the nuclear safeguards agreement
that India has signed but not yet brought into force.
However, diplomats said in Vienna that although the 35-country
IAEA governing board had approved the additional measures, they fell
short of Additional Protocols that are in place in other countries.
Unlike standard Additional Protocols, the text green-lighted for
India does not mention verification of nuclear imports, short-notice
inspections or the IAEA's right to take chemical samples which can
reveal hidden nuclear activities, according to a copy obtained by
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'The understanding is that it is weak, but it's better than
nothing,' said a Western diplomat, who did not want to be identified.
Under the 2006 civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United
States, India agreed to separate its nuclear weapons programme from
its energy sector.
It also pledged to place 14 power reactors under IAEA monitoring
by 2014, up from the six currently safeguarded by inspectors from the
nuclear watchdog body.
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 the condition that IAEA inspections are
in place.
India has already concluded nuclear cooperation agreements with
the US, France, Russia and Kazakhstan.
USA
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