Menon briefs IAEA Board, NSG members

As part of efforts to garner support for its case, India on Friday briefed 35-member IAEA Board of Governors and NSG countries, which are not part of the Board, on the the safeguards agreement and other aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon briefed the representatives of the 54 countries about the importance of the initiative of Indo-US nuclear deal while citing the country's impeccable track record on non-proliferation front despite not being a signatory to NPT.

The briefing of the IAEA Board and NSG members by Menon along with Department of Atomic Energy Secretary RB Grover is crucial as the Board will meet on August 1 to consider approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement initialled on July 7.

Approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA Board is a crucial step in the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Among the 35 members of the IAEA Board of Governors , 26 are also part of NSG. Rest of the NSG countries were invited for the special briefing.

After firming up of the safeguards agreement, India has to get a waiver from the 45-nation NSG to allow it to have trade in the field with international community.

Earlier in the day, Menon met IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and discussed issues related to the safeguards agreement.

Other members of the Indian delegation are the country's envoy to IAEA Saurabh Kumar and Joint Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy Gitesh Sarma.