US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled a controversial agreement in 2005 to share civilian nuclear technology, which would see India enter the fold of global nuclear commerce after being shut out for decades.

But the deal faces intense domestic opposition in India over fears it could draw the country too close to the United States.

"An IAEA board meeting was announced to take place on August 1 with India Safeguards Agreement on the agenda," agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told AFP.

India would brief the watchdog's board of governors on Friday in preparation for the meeting, Fleming said.

Critics have argued the deal undermines international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) because it gives a country outside the agreement, and which developed atomic bombs in secret and conducted a nuclear test in 1974, access to US nuclear fuel and reactor technology.

Before the deal can go ahead, India must sign a so-called Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, opening up key civilian nuclear reactors to UN inspections.

In addition, India must obtain a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of 45 states that export nuclear fuel and technology whose rules ban trade with non-NPT states.

Finally, the US-India deal must then be ratified by the US Congress.

The NSG is not expected to discuss an exemption to its rules for India until September and that could mean the US-India deal may not be ratified before President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

Critics insist the safeguards agreement with the IAEA contains major loopholes.

Much of the restricted 23-page document, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, is in line with safeguard agreements signed between the IAEA and other countries.

But critics are worried that a clause in the agreement's preamble may make it possible for India to end inspections on certain plants and use them to manufacture fissile material for atomic weapons instead of nuclear fuel.

The draft clause states that India "may take corrective measures to ensure uninterrupted operation of its civilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies."

But it does not specify what those corrective measures could be and could therefore be interpreted by India as allowing it to remove facilities or materials from safeguards in the event of a fuel supply interruption. That would violate the principle of permanent safeguards over all nuclear materials and facilities, critics argue.

Furthermore, the document does not contain the usual list of facilities -- 14 out of India's total 22 reactors -- to be under IAEA supervision.

They have been listed previously in a separate and widely-circulated Civil Nuclear Separation Plan drawn up two years ago by India.

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