The Nuclear Suppliers Group finally gave its nod to the India-specific
waiver on Saturday. The 45 member nations of the NSG approved a US proposal
to drop a ban on trade with India.

The revised draft presented at the meeting has undergone some changes to
address the concerns of a few countries, diplomats present at the venue
said. The Indo-US nuclear deal now faces only one hurdle before
operationalisation -- ratification by the US Congress.

Austria, along with Ireland, New Zealand
[Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=new%20zealand>
] and Switzerland[Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=switzerland>
], had expressed strong reservations over the waiver being given to India.
The NSG was forced to have an unscheduled meeting today after two days of
deliberations failed to produce a consensus.

China, which had last night joined the countries against the waiver, did not
oppose the waiver on Saturday but raised some questions regarding specific
issues. After the consensus was adopted,
Beijing[Images<http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=beijing>
] expressed its stated position.

Some changes have been made to the revised draft of the waiver to assuage
concerns of the sceptic countries but details of the exact changes were
still not available.

Hectic behind-the-scene negotiations marked the diplomatic triumph for India
in which the US played a major part by talking to the naysayers in extended
late night discussions.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement on Friday,
reaffirming India's commitment to non-proliferation and disarmament goals
and the reference to its voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing, appears to
have played a major role in placating the countries that had strong views on
proliferation.

The four countries were initially not fully satisfied with the statement and
wanted this commitment to be incorporated in the US-steered draft waiver.
They also wanted inclusion of the consequences that would follow a nuclear
test.

But India had been opposed to the inclusion of any conditions, which it felt
would undermine its sovereign right to undertake a nuclear test. New Delhi [
Images <http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=delhi>] is not a
member of the NSG, which takes decisions on the principle of consensus.

US acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Rood, who steered
Washington's campaign in the NSG, described today's decision as 'landmark'.
He said it was an important moment for strengthening the non-proliferation
regime.

Austria also issued a statement saying it withdrew its objections after
Mukherjee's statement which, it said, was decisive. The US officials also
contended that transferring nuclear technology to India will bring its
atomic programme under closer scrutiny and boost international
non-proliferation efforts.