While these countries were somewhat “extreme” in their scepticism, there are countries like Canada which were keen on pushing for a review or monitoring mechanism for India. On this count, sources said, suggestions were mooted to have a closer inspection regime.

Though “milder” in their scepticism as they do not want to annoy India, countries like Canada, Japan and even Australia seemed to indicate that they would be more comfortable with a tighter exemption note. For instance, some of them were keen to also place a prohibition on enrichment and reprocessing technology.

On this issue, sources said, the concerns were largely commercial as some of them felt that Russia and France could use E&R technologies to “sweeten” their commercial prospects with India while others may not be able to do so for domestic compulsions.

At the start of the day, India briefed all NSG members at the IAEA building with Menon making a strong case for an exemption on the basis of India’s unblemished non-proliferation record. He gave elaborate explanations on India’s future energy requirements and the steps it had taken to ensure there would be no proliferation threat. Also, the Indian side underlined the positive effect such a deal would have on climate change.

Sources said that barring a couple, not many member-states raised questions. After lunch, the NSG members moved to the Japanese embassy in Vienna where there is a conference room for NSG meetings. The closed door session discussed these issues in details and reservations were heard from several countries. Later, sources said, Indian and US diplomats discussed the developments of the day.

... contd.