Menon meets IAEA chief ahead of briefing to Board

Vienna, July 18 : Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Friday met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna ahead of the briefing to the Board of Governors of IAEA on the safeguards agreement and other aspects of the Indo-US civil Nuclear deal.

Menon had a brief meeting with the IAEA Director General but the details were not revealed.

The briefing of the IAEA Board and Nuclear Supply Group (NSG) members by Menon and the Secretary Department of Atomic Energy R B Grover is crucial, as the Board will meet on August 1 to consider approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement.

After approval of the safeguards agreement by the IAEA Board, India has to get a waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group for operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

ANI