MUMBAI, 10 October 2007 — The UN nuclear watchdog agency’s chief Mohamed El-Baradei yesterday said he will wait for talks on India-specific safeguards till New Delhi was prepared, even as the left allies continued pressure on the government against operationalizing the nuclear deal with the US.
“We are ready for talks when they (Indian government) approach us,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief told reporters here.
“The Indian side will approach me for talks when they decide to approach me. It is a government decision. Until they take the decision I will wait for them to come to Vienna to make a formal request,” said El-Baradei, a strong supporter of the trailblazing India-US nuclear deal. Asked about his expectations of the negotiations, he said: “I have always had fruitful talks with the government of India.”
He was talking to media persons after visiting the Tata Memorial Center’s Advanced Center for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, where he was handed over an indigenously designed cancer teletherapy machine called Bhabhatron II. The IAEA is to send the machine, showcasing India’s innovations in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, to Vietnam as a goodwill gesture. El-Baradei began his four-day visit of India from this financial capital of the country late Monday.
Earlier yesterday, El-Baradei met Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and discussed issues related to India’s civil nuclear program. Kakodkar later accompanied El-Baradei to the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) at Anushakti Nagar on the outskirts of the city. El-Baradei inspected the BARC facility and had lunch with nuclear scientists.
The IAEA chief visited the Electron Beam Center for Material Processing in Navi Mumbai later. Officials were, however, tight-lipped on negotiations on India-specific safeguards with the IAEA that have become a make-or-break issue between the ruling coalition and its left allies.
“Though the visit to the Mumbai facilities is very technical in nature, the trip comes ahead of an informal October-end deadline for India to clinch negotiations with the IAEA,” a senior official of the Department of Atomic Energy said.
