Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday led the UPA Government in welcoming the NSG’s move to “adjust its guidelines” to enable full civil nuclear cooperation with India.

“It (the decision of the NSG) is a forward looking and momentous decision and it marks the end of India’s decades-long islolation from nuclear mainstream and of technology denial regime,” said Dr Singh. He said that the NSG’s decision on Saturday was “a recognition of India’s impeccable non-proliferation credentials and its status as a state with advanced nuclear technology.” The PM said the deal would give an impetus to the country’s pursuit for environmentally sustainable economic growth.

“We look forward to establishing a mutually beneficial partnership with friendly countries in an area which is important for both global energy security as well as for meeting the challenge of climate change,” he added.
With the diplomats representing the NSG members deliberating the revised draft of the waiver proposal in Vienna since Thursday, fingers were crossed in New Delhi. What sent jitters to the UPA Government on Friday is the insistence on some countries for a clearly spelt-out guarantee from New Delhi against future nuclear tests.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherji’s statement reaffirming New Delhi’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and the voluntary and unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests did assuage the concerns of most of the skeptics, but it took the Indian and US negotiators almost another day to secure the waiver from the 45-nation bloc.

Mr Mukherji on Saturday said that the NSG’s decision would open a new chapter in India’s cooperation with other countries in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. He said that New Delhi looked forward to working with its international partners in realizing the full potential of mutually beneficial cooperation that the NSG’s decision entails. The External Affairs Minister admitted that the journey towards the end of nuclear isolation required “intense bilateral negotiations” with the members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the NSG.

He, however, claimed that the final outcome of the negotiations fully met the expectations of New Delhi and was consistent with “the policies of the UPA Government and the national consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation.”

Mukherji said that the NSG waiver had been achieved in accordance with the commitments given to the Parliament and the people of India and was consistent with national interests.