India will go by NSG waiver, says Krishna on G8 curbs
By Manich Chand, IANSThursday, July 23, 2009
ON BOARD SPECIAL AIRCRAFT - Unfazed by the G8 restrictions on transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology (ENR), External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday said India will proceed according to the clean waiver it has received from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).
He also said that India and the US are in the process of selecting two sites for American nuclear reactors.
“The NSG has given India a clean waiver. We will proceed according to the NSG (guidelines),” Krishna said when asked if India’s civil nuclear deal with the US was secure after the G8 declaration this month banned ENR transfer to those countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Krishna was interacting with Indian journalists while returning from a three-day visit of the Thai island resort of Phuket where he attended the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
Asked if India had committed two sites for the American nuclear reactors during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit earlier this week, he said: “Talks are still on. We are in the process of selecting two sites.”
The sites are likely to be in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh states, according to reliable sources.
“We are looking into it,” he replied when asked about Clinton’s suggestion that India should proceed fast with civil liability legislation which would exempt foreign nuclear companies from paying damages in case of nuclear-related accidents.
