India Wins Accord to End 34-Year Ban on Nuclear Trade

Sept. 6 - India's 34-year ban on nuclear trade will be lifted after the nation reiterated pledges to maintain a moratorium on nuclear testing, paving the way for companies to sell reactors and fuel to the world's second most-populous state.

``The Nuclear Suppliers Group today adopted an exemption for nuclear exports to India,'' the Austrian Foreign Ministry said today in a statement after a third day of talks among the 45- member group in Vienna.
``This constitutes a major landmark in our quest for energy security,'' India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in televised comments. ``This decision will open a new chapter in India's cooperation with other countries in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.''

While the details of India's import waiver weren't immediately made public by the group, the U.S. proposal sought to give the south Asian state access to atomic fuels and technologies. They remained deadlocked when they adjourned around 2 a.m. Vienna time because of India's atomic import waiver didn't include restrictions on testing a nuclear weapon.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group, founded in 1974 to prevent countries from copying India's use of imported technology to make its first atomic bomb, needed to vote unanimously to pass the trade deal.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the waiver a “historic day” for India even as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi congratulated him, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee the government for the diplomatic coup. Congress party leader Digvijay Singh also termed this a historic day for India as it ended nearly 40 years of nuclear isolation.

The government’s new ally the Samajwadi Party termed the waiver as a great victory for India and said it would help the country in its development. “India needs development and not nuclear bombs,” SP General Secretary Amar Singh said, criticising the opposition parties for “beating around the bush.”

“It is obvious that the deal is good for the country, as countries such as China and Pakistan are opposing it,” he said. “The saddest opposition has come from the BJP which has always stood for the furtherance of India’s nuclear programme, now they are supporting countries like Pakistan and China,” he added.