VIENNA, Austria (AP) - India's agreement with the U.N. atomic watchdog agency contains restrictions that could limit international oversight of its civilian nuclear program, according to a confidential document obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The accord is meant to open the way for India to do business with a group of 45 states that export nuclear fuel and technology, but the deal first has to be approved by the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Much of the 23-page document is in line with similar agreements the IAEA has with other countries. But a key clause appears to call into question the effectiveness of any IAEA effort to ensure India's civilian nuclear activities do not aid its military's atomic weapons program.

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

While ambiguous, the phrasing appears to open the door for India to end IAEA oversight of some facilities, potentially allowing it to shift those sites from manufacturing fuel for atomic reactors that generate electricity to the production of fissile material usable in warheads.

In addition, an annex supposed to list the nuclear facilities that India is prepared to put under IAEA supervision is blank, essentially meaning the IAEA's board members are being asked to approve an agreement without knowing what it will apply to.

"The board should ask what 'corrective measures' are supposed to mean," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. "It could mean, 'We will withdraw from safeguards those facilities that we need to withdraw from and we will use in those facilities other, unsupervised fuel sources.'"

As for the blank annex, "it matters which facilities you are placing under safeguards because some of India's facilities have greater or lesser relevance to its (military) nuclear program," Kimball said. "It is standard practice for the board of governors to understand which facilities are covered."

Without the board's approval of a safeguard agreement, India will not be able to do business with countries that export nuclear technology, which are grouped in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. India is struggling to find enough uranium to supply both its power sector and its nuclear arms facilities.

The group, which includes the United States, has since 1992 restricted nuclear trade with states that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or don't have comprehensive safeguards monitored by the IAEA.

India, which hasn't signed the treaty, first conducted a nuclear test explosion 24 years ago as it broke out of its foreign-supplied civilian program to develop atomic arms.

The U.S. effort to help India with nuclear technology while continuing to shun other states that haven't signed the nuclear treaty, like Pakistan and Israel, is opposed by critics who say it will free up more of New Delhi's domestic capabilities for its atomic weapons program and undermine the treaty.

Even if the board approves the India-IAEA agreement in a special session late this month or in early August, the nations of the Nuclear Suppliers Group are not expected to discuss an exemption to the rules for India until September.

That would likely delay attempts by the Bush administration to push Congress to approve a landmark 2005 U.S.-India deal that calls for the sharing of U.S. civilian nuclear know-how with India. Both countries are eager to wrap up loose ends before President Bush leaves office.