VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency's governors will meet on Aug. 1 to consider India's draft plan for nuclear inspections submitted to help launch a US-Indian nuclear trade deal, IAEA officials said. If the governors approve the plan, India and the United States must win clearance from a 45-nation group that controls sensitive nuclear trade, then ratification by the US Congress for the three-year-old nuclear deal to take force.‘A (special) meeting of the (35-nation) IAEA board of governors will take place on Aug. 1 with the India Safeguards agreement on the agenda,’ Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog, said without elaborating.
After a delay caused by a split in the governing coalition over the 2005 deal, India took the first step toward implementing it last Wednesday by sending the plan for inspections of its civilian nuclear reactors to the IAEA board.
Washington said a day later it would seek to expedite the nuclear cooperation accord with India over international and domestic hurdles with time running out before an effective deadline set by US elections in November.
The deal has aroused controversy since India is outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), tested nuclear bombs in 1974 and 1998 and says the accord will not curb its military nuclear programme -- including the right to more tests if needed. The nuclear deal would be a landmark for India's relations with the West and would allow it access to US civilian nuclear fuel and technology, unlocking an energy market worth billions of dollars for European and US nuclear firms.