UN approves India-US nuclear deal

UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has backed a controversial nuclear deal between India and the US, diplomats say. Approval was granted after the agency’s 35-nation board met in the Austrian capital, Vienna, officials said.

India’s government recently survived a confidence vote over the deal, and says it is vital to meet energy demands.

Critics say the plan rewards a non-proliferation outsider. IAEA approval is a key condition for enacting it. India must now win an unprecedented waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) later in August which would allow it to trade in sensitive nuclear materials.

The deal must also be ratified by the US Congress. IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei told those present at the closed meeting that a basic inspection plan for India met agency safeguards.

“It satisfies India’s needs while maintaining all the agency’s legal requirements.” Talks had started on a system of extended checks, he added.

IAEA inspectors are supposed to monitor Indian nuclear reactors to ensure fuel is not diverted to military use. The deal would allow India to enter the world market in nuclear fuel and technology - as long as it is for civilian purposes.

It had previously been banned from doing so under the terms of a 30-year embargo imposed because of its testing of atomic bombs and refusal to join the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

- BBC