India signs international pact to ease fears over nuclear trade
Most nuclear suppliers have been unhappy with the stringent provisions of India’s nuclear liabilities bill. Signing the CSC was a step towards assuaging international fears of doing nuclear business with India. HT reports.
India signed another document to facilitate its international nuclear commerce in Vienna on Wednesday, the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC).
The CSC provides for additional compensation a member country can draw in case of a nuclear accident. It intends to establish an international fund to increase the amount available to compensate victims and allows for compensating civil damage occurring within a state’s exclusive economic zone. It is now signed by 14 countries, including India.
However, only four countries-— the US, Argentina, Morocco and Romania — have ratified the Convention so far. It can come into force only after a minimum of five countries, each having at least 400,000 units of installed nuclear capacity ratifies it.
Most nuclear suppliers have been unhappy with the stringent provisions of India’s nuclear liabilities bill. Signing the CSC was a step towards assuaging international fears of doing nuclear business with India.
Not all are convinced. US officials and the nuclear firms have been saying that India’s N-liabilities act is not consistent with the CSC or international norms.
Amid New Delhi’s efforts to address the concerns of the US firms ahead of Obama’s visit — while ruling out any changes in the domestic law — Dinkar Khullar, Indian ambassador to Austria and country’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, signed the convention on behalf of India in Vienna.
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