In July 2005, the US announced plans for civilian nuclear energy cooperation with India. Three years later, India gained major concessions from two nonproliferation organisations—the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group—even though it is not a member of the latter and has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The relaxation from these two organisations intensified resistance by the non-proliferation community. With regard to the larger impact of the deal in the global context, the EU's response gained significance as it challenged objections from certain EU states, particularly Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden. Above all, Ireland's resistance posed a major challenge for the architects of the deal as even if a single EU state had used its veto power over the NSG decision, the deal would have stood terminated. In this context, even though the EU is not a part of the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, it is important to analyse its response towards it.
