IAEA/BOARD:KAKODKAR PROMISES PRUDENCE AT INDIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L UNVIE VIENNA 000431

SIPDIS

STATE FOR P, T, ISN, SCA
DOE FOR NA-24 - SCHEINMAN; NA-243 GOOREVICH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2018
TAGS: ENRG IAEA ETTC KNNP MNUC PARM TRGY IN
SUBJECT: IAEA/BOARD:KAKODKAR PROMISES PRUDENCE AT INDIA
BOARD

REF: UNVIE 408

Classified By: Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)

1.(C) In an usually warm July 31 discussion, Ambassador and
Indian Department of Atomic Energy Chairman Anil Kakodkar
reviewed the prospects for the August 1 IAEA board decision
on the Indian safeguards agreement and next steps in
implementation of the US-India nuclear deal. Looking ahead
to the board meeting, Kakodkar indicated that he would take
the advice of IAEA Director General ElBaradei and refrain
from any substantive intervention, unless someone says
something so egregious that "I'd lose my job if I just sat
there like a dumb person." "My objective is to get it
through," Kakodkar commented, adding that the Director
General said the IAEA Secretariat would plan to respond to
substantive questions about the agreement from Governors. He
underlined that the political situation in Delhi remains very
fragile, and as a result "the tolerance within the country
for any deviation is very small." Kakodkar encouraged the
Ambassador to use his statement to fame the agreement
broadly, noting benefits "for non-proliferation, climate
change, energy security and the strategic partnership with
the US."

2.(C) Ambassador raised Kakodkar's meeting with ElBaradei on
the Additional Protocol (AP),asking how the AP discussions
had gone. Kakodkar gave a generally upbeat report,
describing the talks as going forward on the right track even
though this is a "complex problem." We can certainly say we
have made "substantial progress" Kakodkar argued, while
noting that he would not want to give the impression it's
going to happen tomorrow -- it's a question of resource
allocation. Once the safeguards agreement is out of the way,
he continued, the Indian side will turn its focus to NSG,
where India is counting on a "clean and unconditional
exception." Responding to Ambassador's point that others
were engaged on this issue, Kakodkar twice repeated the
Indian requirement for a "clean and unconditional exception."

3.(C) DCM raised two issues from Under Secretary Burns'
recent visit to India (reftel),noting that both the
Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) and our
request for Indian support of the IAEA's fuel supply
arrangements involved issues where DAE leads. On CSC,
Kakodkar explained that India is following a two step
approach, working first on national liability legislation,
which in turn would allow for CSC signature. Although this
is a legislative process subject to the whims of Indian
politics, there is no question that India will subscribe.
Geneva DCM Venkatash Verma added that the Indian side was
planning to make a statement during U/S Burns' next visit to
New Delhi that would reaffirm publicly the GOI's intention to
move forward on the CSC. On fuel supply, Kakodkar asked
Ambassador Schulte for an update of deliberations within the
Secretariat on ElBaradei's proposal for a reliable access
arrangement. Hearing the Ambassador's reassurance that we do
not contemplate any denial of rights, Kakodkar indicated that
"if something is spelled out in clear terms we'd certainly be
interested in studying such an idea." Kakodkar added that
India has its own bilateral concerns about fuel supply, and
for New Delhi anything that conditioned such an arrangement
on NPT signature would be a deal breaker. "We need to make
sure our rights are fully protected," Kakodkar added, but
India has much to offer.
SCHULTE