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NZ to oppose India's nuclear deal
WSN Network
WELLINGTON: New
Zealand is set to oppose a nuclear agreement between
India
and the United States which could potentially create a diplomatic
problem with
Delhi.
Prime Minister
Helen Clark said that
New Zealand, as
a nuclear free state, was concerned about the deal.
Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh has invested his political future in a
treaty with the
US where
Washington will supply India with civilian nuclear fuel and
technology. He narrowly survived a confidence vote last month to
push through the deal on his side.
New Zealand sits
on a key international nuclear body, the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG) and with a small group of nations will on Thursday
determine whether India can sign the deal with the US.
New Zealand
refuses to accept the deal saying India cannot have it because it
has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
India wants a
waiver from the rule.
An international
diplomatic offensive led by
India and the
United States has targeted New Zealand, Austria and Switzerland over
their opposition.
Miss Clark said
New
Zealand was working with "like minded" countries.
New Zealand
would attend the NSG and listen carefully to the other countries.
"It would be no
secret that we would like to see more conditionalities around the
agreement," she said. "We are pursing this diplomatically."
20 August, 2008
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