Last August Pakistan inaugurated two new China-backed nuclear power plants near Karachi, costing around $5 billion each and due to be completed by 2020.
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India on Friday rejected China’s contention that it must sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to get membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), citing the example of France, which was part of the NSG without being a signatory to the NPT.
With China beginning its long-awaited deployment of the DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missile, India and Pakistan are likely to respond by placing multiple warheads atop some of their missiles, the book titled “The Lure and Pitfalls of MIRVS: From the First to the Second Nuclear Age” said.
The campaign for India’s membership is viewed as carrying the risk of antagonising Pakistan as well as its ally China, which could veto any application by India.
Nonetheless if India makes a bid to become a member so will Pakistan, as this membership allows India to “procure more fuel and nuclear components”, an imbalance Pakistan and can not afford nor allow.
Sources from the United States expressed their disappointment with China’s tactics of “using Pakistan’s non credentials with the NSG to settle scores with India”.
While the membership will be a stretch, it must be lobbied for to keep the pressure on India, as well as to create enough of a diplomatic ruckus, that Indian aggression is actually seen as a problem by the global community. “The relevant statements by USA defence officials are clearly unsubstantiated and meant to sow discord”, between India and China, the ministry said.
The Foreign Office said Pakistan’s NSG membership will further NSG non-proliferation objectives by the inclusion of a state with nuclear supply capabilities and its adherence to NSG Guidelines and best practices on supply of controlled items, goods, materials, technologies and services.
“All multilateral non-proliferation regimes, including the NSG, take NPT membership as the requirement to accept new members”. It has already concluded bilateral treaties with many NSG countries for nuclear trade.
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Few nonproliferation hardcore states within NSG want that India’s admission to NSG must be criterion-based like imposing additional conditionality which would be unacceptable to India under normal circumstances -such as signing CTBT/moratorium on Fissile material production etc. India will not find the going easy as was in the case of getting waiver of NSG in the year 2008. This is an important time for India and China to think about their strategy. It also need to be noted that Pakistani nuclear establishment is not under the control of civilian government and is extremely vulnerable to fall into the hands of Al Qaeda, ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups.
