Vienna - Nuclear-exporting countries gathered in Vienna for a second round of talks on allowing exports to India on Thursday, as Washington was under pressure to build an international consensus for a trade waiver before the US presidential election.

As the two-day meeting got under way, it was unclear whether the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which sets nuclear export rules, could agree on a US draft that would give India access to international markets for supplying its growing nuclear energy sector.

Ahead of the meeting, NSG insiders criticized the new draft, saying it did not include a provision for measures in case India tested a nuclear weapon.

Over 50 amendments were proposed by 20 of the group's 45 members at their first meeting on India in August.

Lobbying for the export exemption is part of Washington's 2005 nuclear deal with New Delhi, which is seen as a cornerstone in improving relations between the two countries.

The Bush administration is pushing for an NSG decision this week, so that the US Congress can ratify the bilateral agreement before it goes into recess ahead of the presidential election.

Sources said that if the US draft stayed as it is, a consensus among the exporters' group was unlikely this week.

The draft exemption incorporated only two of the amendments proposed, NSG diplomats criticized.

A clause on transparency about trade with India, and a provision for NSG consultations if "circumstances have arisen which require consultations," have been added to the original draft, according to a copy of the text published Wednesday by the Arms Control Association on Washington.

For example, the US did not include a ban on trade in technology for uranium enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear fuels in the text, even though the US Department of State had told Congress in a letter that the administration had no intention of supplying India with such sensitive technology.

New Delhi is demanding an unconditional exception from current nuclear trade rules, which deny exports to countries like India that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Indian officials say that mentioning nuclear testing in the NSG exemption was a red line that should not be crossed. (dpa)