In a landmark step towards emerging out of its nuclear isolation, India scored a major diplomatic victory in Vienna with the IAEA Board of Governors today adopting the India-specific safeguards agreement by consensus.

And in doing so, for the first time, the an international body, in this case the UN nuclear watchdog, has acknowledged India’s nuclear weapons programme. For the Indo-US nuclear deal, the bigger hurdle is up next — the Nuclear Suppliers Group which is likely to meet here on August 21.

With IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei making a strong case for the India-specific safeguards agreement and Pakistan deciding against pressing for a vote, the coast was clear for New Delhi. Moreover, there was full endorsement from countries like UK, France, Finland, Russia, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Algeria and Chile. Other countries like Ghana, Ecuador, Thailand, Morocco and Bolivia also supported the deal.

However, despite all the hectic diplomacy in recent days, the surprise came from Iran. Even though it is not a board member, Tehran took special permission to speak and expressed “serious concern” at what it called US “double standards” and said that the agreement was only a “precedent” for legitimizing Israel’s “clandestine nuclear programme”.

Two other non-board members, Malaysia and Egypt, also took special permission to put on record their reservations.

“There is serious concern that the US has taken this step with an intention to create precedence and pave the way for Israel to continue its clandestine weapon activities...Bearing in mind the disappointing status vis-à-vis parties to the NPT...Iran expects member states, while considering the safeguards agreement of India to consider the above mentioned concerns,” said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s Ambassador to IAEA.

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