As for the board of governors meeting, sources said, the IAEA secretariat had already conveyed it to all board members and while confirmation is still awaited from all countries, indications are that the date is acceptable as sufficient groundwork was done before proposing the date. This will allow IAEA to finish its task just as the vacation month of August starts.

Top officials said the urgency shown by the IAEA is also reflective of the commitment of IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei to the nuclear deal. The agreement, which is now public, also shows that the agency was accommodating to Indian concerns and accepted references into the text that are unique to any safeguards agreement. Key among them is the non-hindrance clause which commits IAEA to not involve itself with India’s military programme while implementing the safeguards agreement.

In effect, this acknowledges India’s nuclear weapon programme which is a rare exception. Besides this, IAEA has also allowed India to build a strategic fuel reserve for the lifetime supply of fuel to its reactors.

This moves away from the general IAEA principle to allow only that much amount of fuel needed for reasonable reactor requirements. Hectic diplomatic efforts will continue on the margins of all the politics with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns expected to visit India right after the UPA government faces the vote of confidence.