Show IAEA draft, Left tells Govt

Not convinced with the Government argument that the IAEA safeguards agreement was a confidential document that could not be shared with 8216;third parties8217;...

Not convinced with the Government argument that the IAEA safeguards agreement was a confidential document that could not be shared with 8216;third parties8217;, the Left Front on Tuesday demanded a full disclosure of the draft, saying it was necessary to clarify major issues involved.

A statement issued by the four Left parties, which withdrew their support to the UPA Government on Tuesday, said there were a lot of unanswered questions that must be addressed before the Government proceeds with signing the safeguards agreement.

8220;The first major issue relates to the possibility of the US terminating civilian nuclear cooperation with India for any reason in the future. The text of the 123 agreement has very ambiguous references to India taking 8216;corrective measures8217; if nuclear fuel supplies from abroad are discontinued. Therefore, the text of the IAEA safeguards agreement needs to be made available to see whether any corrective action is possible on India8217;s part, if the US discontinues the fuel supplies,8221; the Left parties said.

The statement also questioned how the safeguards agreement with IAEA would ensure India-specific fuel supplies since it was well known that IAEA is not concerned with fuel supplies but only with safeguards on nuclear equipment and material.

The Left parties said despite raising concerns repeatedly, the UPA Government had not clarified whether India had the right to withdraw safeguarded reactors from IAEA monitoring in the event of US or other countries reneging on their fuel supply assurances. They said it was also not clear whether India had to meet any conditions in case the 8216;corrective measures8217; were to be put into operation.

8220;Once the text of the safeguards agreement is approved by the IAEA Board of Governors, which is what the UPA Government seeks to do now, the subsequent steps require no participation at all by the Government of India. It is the US Government that takes the next steps 8212; moving the NSG countries for the waiver and then placing the 123 Agreement before the US Congress,8221; the statement said.

8220;Therefore, it is critical for the country that the IAEA safeguards agreement is discussed with full transparency and not kept secret,8221; it added.