11.6 Asian Development Bank · Part 4

than that from Europe and the US. This price differential is termed as ‘Asian Premium’. About OPEC ™ It is an intergovernmental organisation whose stated objective is to “co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.” ™ It is headquartered at Vienna, Austria. ™ It was set up at the Baghdad Conference with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela as founding members. ™ It accounts for an estimated percent of global oil production and . percent of the world’s “proven” oil reserves. International Atomic Energy Agency ™ It is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. ™ It is an autonomous international Organisation within the United Nations system set up in July through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute. ™ The IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. ™ It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. ™ Contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. ™ It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. India is a member of IAEA. ™ The objective of IAEA Safeguards is to deter the spread of nuclear weapons by the early detection of the misuse of nuclear material or technology. ™ In , an Agreement between the Government of India and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities was signed. Then in , India ratified an Additional Protocol (as part of its commitments under US-India Nuclear Deal) to its safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ™ The AP is an important tool of the IAEA, over and above the provisions of the safeguard agreement, to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of a country’s nuclear programme. BIMSTEC ™ BIMSTEC is a regional Organisation comprising seven Member States lying in the