NEW DELHI: In what could mark a significant crack in the opposition to the India-US nuclear deal, Austria, which along with New Zealand is seen as a major objector, on Wednesday dropped hints that the waiver India is seeking from the Nuclear Suppliers Group was not a lost cause.

Talking to The Times of India, an Austrian foreign ministry spokesperson said Austria fully understands the importance of the nuclear deal and it was not opposed to India meeting its energy requirements. Vienna said it stood in favour of the waiver being a "net gain" for international security rather than an intent to spike India’s plans.

But while explaining Austria's position at the NSG, the spokesperson did laud the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as an imperative for international security and suggested additional measures were needed to make the draft waiver more in line with international concerns.

With India prepared to support non-proliferation, short of signing NPT, and the estimate in New Delhi that US was now pulling out all stops in keeping its part of the bargain by fiercely lobbying the NSG, the possibility of an altered, but acceptable waiver seems likely. This needs more concessions but as long as they are not binding in nature, India could accept the waiver.

"Austria fully understands the importance of the Indo-US nuclear deal and India's right to produce energy from whatever sources it desires. We want India to meet its objectives. As for the NSG meet, we want the group to achieve a result that would be a net gain and we are confident that it will happen," said spokesperson Peter Launsky in reply to queries mailed to foreign minister Ursula Plassnik.

However, in what can be read as a balancing act, the spokesperson also said an environment had to be created for what he called "auxillary measures".

"It's difficult to spell out specifics as the process is still on but we are confident that what happens will add to international security," he again underlined. While not defining "auxillary measures", a "tightening" of the draft with regard to commitments on non-proliferation and a review mechanism are perhaps what he alluded to.

Also, the spokesperson chose to duck a question on whether Austria would insist on India accepting NPT or CTBT, but he did say that Austria wants all the existing treaties to be strengthened. "All existing treaties must be strengthened," he said.