M A I N   N E W S

EU envoy plays hard on N-deal
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 16
Despite a strategic partnership with India, the European Union is not prepared to take a soft position on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. This was conveyed in clear terms to the Indian leadership by top European Union diplomat Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy. She met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for half an hour this morning and then had talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which was followed by dinner.

An official of the EU delegation here quoted the Commissioner as saying: “We hope that India will take steps towards international non-proliferation mainstream and swiftly conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA.”

It has been a long-held policy of the EU that India should join the “international non-proliferation mainstream”which means that India should join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). It is common knowledge that India is strongly against joining NPT or CTBT while the 27-nation EU is strongly committed to these two treaties.

New Delhi’s stance is that the EU’s stated policy on the subject is in stark variance from the Indian stand and the only forward movement that is possible is that the EU, and not India, should make adjustments, irrespective of the fact whether the Indo-US nuke deal survives or not.

The Commissioner also told the Indians that the EU would like India to first swiftly conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA only then the EU would take a position after watching how the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) deals with the Indo-US nuclear deal. Most EU countries are members of the NSG and that is why the EU’s position on civil-nuclear cooperation with India is of critical importance.

The “problem countries” within the EU, from the Indian perspective are the Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which are stridently opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal as they perceive it to be a move towards proliferation. Two major European countries, Britain and France, have already pledged support to civil-nuclear cooperation with India, while another big power, Germany, is yet to make up its mind.