Support for N-deal growing, says Menon

“I came away from Vienna with the distinct impression that support for India's civil nuclear initiative is increasing,” Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told presspersons, reports HT Correspondent.

“I came away from Vienna with the distinct impression that support for India's civil nuclear initiative is increasing,” Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told presspersons on Monday.

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Menon, who briefed members of the IAEA governing board and Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) nations last week, conceded that some countries had misgivings about India’s nuclear deal with the United States. “We will clear their doubts,” Menon maintained.

The Foreign Secretary refused to be drawn into answering a question about when Germany, as chairman of the NSG, would convene a meeting of the 45-member grouping, which will have to relax its guidelines to allow members to open nuclear trade with India.

“We are not members of the NSG. It is for the US to approach the NSG,” he said, pointing out that India was, of course, in touch with members of the NSG on its civil nuclear initiative.

Menon also said that “several drafts” were floating around in the NSG to allow for civil nuclear commerce with India. These, the Foreign Secretary said, would have to be reconciled to produce one document.