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Vienna: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to call a meeting of its board of governors this month and clear "without delay" the India-specific safeguards pact to make the nuclear deal with the United States operational, said an expert on nuclear issues.
The safeguards department of the UN atomic watchdog would present its report on nuclear rules for India at the meeting. "After listening to the proposal, the governors will probably pass it without delay," the expert said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, since the IAEA has not yet officially announced the meeting, the expert - who is also conversant with the legal side of the deal, said the nuclear deal would be deemed "dead" only if it were to fizzle out due to domestic political reasons.
Main hurdle
"My guess is that at the IAEA it will go through," the source said.
Most observers outside India felt the main hurdle facing the nuclear deal was the inability of the Indian government to convince its Left allies to back it.
The four parties propping the Manmohan Singh government finally ended their support to the government yesterday. But the government exuded hope it would be able to save the deal and itself with help from new allies.
The IAEA is expected to announce a meeting sometime toward the end of the month to review and approve the safeguards agreement.
Five meetings
IAEA's 35-member board of governors generally meets only five times a year - in March, June, twice in September, and in December.
A July meeting may also discuss budget and technical issues. It could review India's agreement to implement steps that support an international effort to curb the proliferation of nuclear arms.
India has agreed to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and to open the former for inspection by the IAEA.
Experts point out that the political health of a country is not the concern of the IAEA. If a country is ready for an agreement, the IAEA is ready too. Once the board of governors approves it, India's case will be presented before the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the informal body of 45 countries. Officials at the IAEA headquarters here believe that the US may have already done its homework as far as the NSG is concerned.
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