Page 372 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition

come to fruition as it had to go through several complex stages, including the
amendment of US domestic law, specially the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, a
civil-military nuclear Separation Plan in India, an India-IAEA safeguards
(inspections) agreement and the grant of an exemption for India by the

Nuclear Suppliers Group, an export-control cartel that had been formed
mainly in response to India’s first nuclear test in 1974. In its final shape, the

deal places under permanent safeguards those nuclear facilities that India has
identified as “civil” and permits broad civil nuclear cooperation, while
excluding the transfer of “sensitive” equipment and technologies, including

civil enrichment and reprocessing items even under IAEA safeguards. On 18
August 2008, the IAEA Board of Governors approved, and on 2 February
2009, India signed an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

Once India brought this agreement into force, inspections began in a phased
manner on the 35 civilian nuclear installations India has identified in its
Separation Plan. The deal is seen as a watershed in US-India relations and

introduces a new aspect to international non-proliferation efforts. On 1
August 2008, the IAEA approved the safeguards agreement with India, after
which the United States approached the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to

grant a waiver to India to commence civilian nuclear trade. The 45-nation
NSG granted the waiver to India on 6 September 2008 allowing it to access
civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. The

implementation of this waiver made India the only known country with
nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.

The US House of Representatives passed the bill on 28 September 2008.
Two days later, India and France inked a similar nuclear pact, making France
the first country to have such an agreement with India. On 1 October 2008,

the US Senate also approved the civilian nuclear agreement allowing India to
purchase nuclear fuel and technology from the United States. US President,
George W Bush signed the legislation on the Indo-US nuclear deal approved

by the US Congress into law, now called the United States-India Nuclear
Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act, on 8 October
2008. The agreement was signed by then Indian External Affairs Minister

Pranab Mukherjee and his counterpart, then Secretary of State Condoleezza