India's Nuclear Deal with US faces first Test
source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121917481898054083.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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A U.S.-India nuclear deal faces its next hurdle this week when a multinational group that monitors sales of civilian nuclear technology takes it up, exposing the pact to close scrutiny.
The members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group face an important challenge during their special plenary session Thursday and Friday in Vienna. India and the U.S. will ask the group to allow, for the first time, the transfer of nuclear technology to a country that hasn't signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
"India is the dossier everyone cares about," said a European diplomat familiar with the matter. "And India is asking the NSG to allow an exception to its guidelines."
The deal, which would see the U.S. supply India with nuclear fuel and technology for civilian purposes, got a boost in late July, when Indian President Manmohan Singh called a confidence vote in his government after left-wing allies withdrew their support, saying the deal was too favorable to U.S. interests. Mr. Singh's government won handily. This month, the board of governors of the United Nations' atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, unanimously approved an inspections agreement with India that was a crucial precondition to completing the pact.
Better access to nuclear power through the deal has been a key aim of the Congress party, which leads India's coalition government. Booming India needs to increase its power generation, and nuclear energy could offer price protection against the volatility of fossil fuels and help India reduce its reliance on more-polluting coal-fired power plants. The U.S., for its part, sees the nuclear pact as a way to create stronger ties with the South Asian nation and provide a counterweight to China's influence in the region.
The members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group face an important challenge during their special plenary session Thursday and Friday in Vienna. India and the U.S. will ask the group to allow, for the first time, the transfer of nuclear technology to a country that hasn't signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
"India is the dossier everyone cares about," said a European diplomat familiar with the matter. "And India is asking the NSG to allow an exception to its guidelines."
The deal, which would see the U.S. supply India with nuclear fuel and technology for civilian purposes, got a boost in late July, when Indian President Manmohan Singh called a confidence vote in his government after left-wing allies withdrew their support, saying the deal was too favorable to U.S. interests. Mr. Singh's government won handily. This month, the board of governors of the United Nations' atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, unanimously approved an inspections agreement with India that was a crucial precondition to completing the pact.
Better access to nuclear power through the deal has been a key aim of the Congress party, which leads India's coalition government. Booming India needs to increase its power generation, and nuclear energy could offer price protection against the volatility of fossil fuels and help India reduce its reliance on more-polluting coal-fired power plants. The U.S., for its part, sees the nuclear pact as a way to create stronger ties with the South Asian nation and provide a counterweight to China's influence in the region.
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