VZCZCXRO0284
PP RUEHBI
DE RUEHUNV #0431 2131222
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311222Z JUL 08
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8272
RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNNSG/NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP PRIORITY
RUEHII/VIENNA IAEA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 0170
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0278
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 0060

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