The Hindu : Front Page : ‘NSG sentiment in favour of India’

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Friday, Jan 18, 2008
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‘NSG sentiment in favour of India’

P.S. Suryanarayana

Assessment covers China too, says Shyam Saran

SINGAPORE: The “sentiment in the Nuclear Suppliers Group has moved perceptibly in favour of India,” according to Shyam Saran, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister.

Tracing this “sense” to India’s engagement with the NSG countries over the past year, Mr. Saran told The Hindu here on Thursday that the assessment covered China too.

Going by the Joint Statement issued after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s latest talks with the top Chinese leaders in Beijing, he said it “is a good sign” that India and China expressed willingness to work together in the civilian nuclear energy domain.

Mr. Saran was here on his way from Australia.

India needed the NSG’s endorsement for gaining access to high-tech nuclear know-how and equipment for power generation. And, New Delhi’s “initiative” of engaging the NSG should be seen in the context of the U.S.-India nuclear deal, he said.

Asked whether India felt the need to re-engage some key NSG countries in East Asia, he said: “I don’t think that we can expect the world to stay still while we are working on this initiative.”

Mr. Saran said:

“I had gone there to brief the new Australian Government at the political level on the current state of affairs with regard to the India-U.S. civil nuclear cooperation agreement and also to seek the support of Australia in the Nuclear Suppliers Group when this issue comes up.

“I did not raise the issue of [potential] uranium supply [to India from Australia]. But, the Foreign Minister of Australia, on his own, did bring to my notice the fact that the Australian Labour Party has had a long-standing position that Australia should not sell uranium to non-NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] countries. So, I said, ‘I have noted your position.’ But, I also pointed out that India itself has had a very impeccable record in non-proliferation.

“In any case, the question of nuclear supplies is not something which is, at the moment, moot. Because, until there is a change in the international regime, the question of any kind of nuclear supplies from the NSG countries does not arise.”

India’s current dialogue with China on civilian nuclear energy issues acquired importance “both in terms of facing the energy challenge and also the climate change challenge.”

Answering questions from the audience, after delivering a lecture held under the auspices of S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Mr. Saran said: “There is a feeling that rather than being seen as rivals in this [East Asian] region, both India and China can work together ... as partners ... to create ... a more loosely structured architecture.”

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