VIENNA, Aug 14: The United States has proposed to waive a ban on nuclear trade with India without conditions, such as compliance with a nuclear test ban or UN inspections, but diplomats said on Thursday the draft was unlikely to pass.

The draft, circulated among members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and unveiled late on Wednesday by an arms control advocacy, will be discussed by the NSG next week in Vienna.

A green light by the 45-nation NSG, which operates by consensus, is necessary for the 2005 US-India deal on nuclear trade to proceed to US Congress for final ratification.

It would lift a 34-year embargo on nuclear trade for civilian purposes with the Asian nuclear power, which has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty and has tested atomic bombs.

But diplomats from several NSG member states said the draft fell behind earlier US proposals, had unacceptable clauses and omissions, and went against existing American laws on the deal. A diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “There are no conditions. Obviously what is missing is that (the waiver) is void if there is another atomic test.”

A second diplomat said: “I think a majority of countries feel that the current draft is very weak and there is no conditionality at all... I don’t really think that the US expects this draft to pass.”

If the waiver does not get NSG approval next week or at a second meeting likely early next month, it may not get ratified by the end of September, when US Congress adjourns for November elections, and could face indefinite limbo.

The draft was published by the US-based Arms Control Association (www.armscontrol.org) late on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the US mission in Vienna declined to comment.

A senior Indian foreign ministry official said they were happy with the draft. “We are hopeful the deal will make it to US Congress by Sept 8,” the official said.

Several NSG nations are unlikely to approve an exemption unless it makes clear certain events — such as India testing a nuclear bomb or not allowing inspections at its nuclear facilities — would trigger a review.

Such demands are also stipulated in US legislation regarding the US-India deal — known as the Hyde Act — which requires permanent, unconditional inspections in India and says trade must stop if it tests another atom bomb.

A powerful congressional leader wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week saying if the waiver does not spell out such minimum conditions, the Bush administration should not bother seeking NSG approval before it leaves office in January.But the draft states only that NSG members “have taken note of steps that India has taken voluntarily”, including its unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests and its commitment to allow inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog. It mentions no consequences in case India does not adhere to the measures.—Reuters