India will begin another round of talks with the global nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna from Monday for negotiating the safeguards agreement, a prerequisite for the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The Indian delegation led by R B Grover, a top official in the Department of Atomic Energy, reached Vienna on Sunday for talks which are expected to go on till the month end.

Sources said Indian negotiators and the IAEA team are also keeping the agency’s Board of Governors updated on the progress of the consultations so that it would be easier when it is officially taken up by the Board. But it is not known whether the issue will be taken up during the Board meeting beginning March 3, they added.

India and the IAEA had held four rounds of talks in Vienna since November last, apart from several informal consultations to work out a new template on safeguards specifically for India.  Pressing India to speed up implementation of the nuclear agreement, the US had recently said the negotiations with IAEA and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) should be wound up by May failing which New Delhi will not get a similar deal. Unfazed by the US position, India said it was a complex issue and the negotiations would take some time to conclude.

“We have to get this done at the earliest but it has to be correctly done and it has to meet all the requirements and so it’s a long technical process. There are several steps involved. We have to move step by step,” Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said.