New Delhi: July 23, 2008 - Having won the trust vote, the India-US nuclear deal is now on the fast track. Prime minister Manmohan Singh’s government is going all out to initiate a high-voltage campaign to ensure that nothing is left to chance at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).

India needs a safeguards agreement with the IAEA and a waiver from the NSG before it can join the world of nuclear commerce.

“This government has gone out on a limb to save this deal, and will do everything it can to ensure that India’s nuclear isolation is ended. The stakes are too high for the government to lose out in either the IAEA or the NSG,’’ a  senior official who did not wish to be identified said.

The government was waiting for the results of the trust vote before sending its emissaries to world capitals to lobby for an NSG waiver. India’s former foreign secretary and the prime minister’s special envoy for the nuclear deal, Shyam Saran, was all set to leave for Dublin late on Tuesday night. Ireland, a member of the IAEA board of governors and the 45-strong NSG, isn’t  particularly enthusiastic about a  waiver for India. 

Minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma will travel to South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria, countries which are members of the IAEA board and the NSG.

Prithviraj Chauhan, junior minister in the prime minister’s office, has been entrusted with the job of getting China’s nod. Beijing is playing its cards close to the chest and it will be Chauhan’s endeavour to convince it. China is a member both of the IAEA and the NSG.

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