Clear understanding is needed on the deliberations in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on August21-22 on granting India a waiver from guidelines which prohibit all nuclear commerce with countries which are not members of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and with non-nuclear weapon nations which are not under full scope safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). India is not a signatory of the NPT and the safeguards agreement approved by the IAEA on August 1 recognises that India has a military nuclear programme which will not come under safeguards.

India has not approached the NSG for the waiver. The United States, the founder of the NSG (earlier called London Suppliers Club),backed by other co-founders Russia, France, UK and Germany is now recommending the waiver. The irony is the London Club was established in 1975 by US, USSR, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Canada as a response to India’s 1974 nuclear test. At that stage the aim was to prevent nuclear proliferation by countries obtaining dual use nuclear technology and diverting it to weapon development. 34 years have passed since that nuclear test. It is logical to review the situation today.

Currently, only four countries are outside the NPT — Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and India. Israel had developed its arsenal since 1967 even before the NPT was drafted and has no interest in civil nuclear commerce. North Korea was a member of the NPT, but withdrew and conducted a nuclear test. After negotiations with China, US, Russia, Japan and South Korea, it has agreed to give up is nuclear arsenal and return to the NPT. That leaves only two countries outside the NPT — India and Pakistan which have nuclear weapons and are interested in nuclear commerce.

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