'We will not accept prescriptive conditionalities from NSG'

KOLKATA: India will not accept any "prescriptive conditionalities" to get an exemption from the NSG to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday.

"We have to see what kind of amendments come. Then only we can decide. But we cannot accept prescriptive conditionalities," Mukherjee said while accompanying President Pratibha Patil on her two-day visit to West Bengal.

He was asked about the government's future course of action in the face of reservations expressed by some countries which could lead to a re-wording of the draft waiver presented in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Mukherjee said he was briefed by Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon about the developments in Vienna during the two- day meeting of the 45-member NSG.

Menon had yesterday described the NSG meet as "constructive and useful" saying "we met a lot of individual delegates of NSC member-countries and had an opportunity to brief them on Thursday."

He said the exemption to NSG guidelines for nuclear trade would help civil nuclear cooperation and "is a necessary step for cooperation between India and the NSG. We look forward to working with them".

Sources said differences between India and NSG countries have been narrowed down in a short span of time and New Delhi expected them to shrink further before the next meeting of the grouping here on September 4-5.