Ahead of the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors, India will brief the 35 members of the key body of the United Nations atomic watchdog on the safeguards agreement and other aspects related to the India-United States nuclear agreement on Friday in Vienna.
Nuclear Suppliers Group countries, which are not members of the Board, will also be briefed on the issue by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in an effort to garner support for India's case, officials said in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The special briefing for the IAEA Board members has been organised to enable India to apprise the important countries about India's case in the backdrop of the Indo-US nuclear agreement, officials said.
Among the 35 members of the IAEA Board, 26 are NSG countries. Rest of the NSG countries have also been invited for the special briefing, considering that India has to seek a waiver from the 45-nation grouping after the safeguards agreement is approved by the IAEA Board.
R B Grover, Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy, will accompany Menon to Vienna for the briefing.
Earlier, India had decided to brief all the 140 members of the IAEA but the plan has now been scaled down as it was considered unnecessary as the safeguards agreement is to be approved only by the 35-nation Board.
The IAEA Board of Governors will meet on August 1 to consider the safeguards agreement initialed on July 7.
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