El-Baradei to visit India in mid-Oct

With the Left gearing up to increase pressure on the Government not to start negotiations with IAEA on the safeguards agreement,

With the Left gearing up to increase pressure on the Government not to start negotiations with IAEA on the safeguards agreement, IAEA Director General Mohammed El-Baradei has confirmed his visit to India in October second week. This will include a detailed meeting with DAE head Anil Kakodkar.

It’s learnt that El-Baradei is slated to reach Mumbai on October 11 and visit DAE headquarters and facilities besides holding talks with Kakodkar. The Government, sources said, clearly wanted to step up high-level engagement with the IAEA and views El-Baradei’s visit as an opportunity.

While the IAEA Director General, who will also visit Delhi, has some non-governmental commitments here, he is likely to meet the top political leadership with efforts also underway to slot a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

El-Baradei is a strong supporter of the Indo-US nuclear deal and has welcomed the recently concluded 123 agreement between both countries. He has often praised India’s non-proliferation record and has been positive on the safeguards agreement. His visit assumes significance as New Delhi looks to work out an India-specific agreement.

IAEA will, in fact, find itself in unfamiliar territory while negotiating the India safeguards agreement which requires fuel supply assurances to go hand in hand. India has already made it clear during informal talks with IAEA over the past year that it will have to incorporate the fuel supplies assurances in the safeguards agreement as stated in India’s separation plan. The Agency has so far not had such a clause in its arrangements with other countries.

However, sources said, El-Baradei had been positive on this right from the start. In a way it also ties up with the Agency’s new effort to manage an international fuel bank to ensure continuous operation of reactors for safety purposes.

Though India may not have still made a “formal approach” to start talks on a safeguards agreement, the recent visit of Kakodkar to the IAEA General Conference and now, the first visit by El-Baradei to India are clear efforts at building the right climate to take the deal forward.

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From the Government’s viewpoint, the ideal timeframe would involve three to four weeks negotiations with the IAEA to conclude this agreement. DAE, sources said, had indicated that this time-period would be enough to conclude the talks despite the fact that modifications will be needed to the model agreement format.

Meanwhile, the Government is unlikely to make any formal move until the October 5 meeting with the Left parties on the issue. Since El-Baradei’s visit would be the week after that meeting, the Manmohan Singh Government will have an opportunity to make its intent clear on the safeguards agreement.

This document is a pre-condition for the Nuclear Suppliers Group to even consider granting an exemption to India. Both India and US would like to complete the steps with the IAEA and NSG by year-end so that the Bush Administration can approach the US Congress January third week.