India’s diplomatic drive in Vienna to gain access to the exclusive Nuclear Suppliers Group gained some momentum on Thursday with the softening up of some of the opposition but China was holding out in defiance. China wants NSG membership for Pakistan if NSG extends any exemption for India. India has asserted that being a signatory to the NPT is not essential for joining the NSG as there has been a precedent in this regard.
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Ironically, the group was set up in response to India’s own clandestine nuclear test in 1974, which made New Delhi something of a pariah in the West. Joining the club requires the unanimous approval of all members.
Pena Nieto’s support is a boost for Modi, but he must still win China’s support to seal India’s membership of the non-proliferation body at the group’s annual meeting in South Korea this month.
Indian industry is willing to work as per Internal Compliance Programme (ICP) and global best practices to maintain the country’s non-proliferation record, Singh added. This may position India better to be a member of the NSG sooner or later.
According to reports, Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has phoned some of the countries that support India’s bid to convey Islamabad’s reservations.
China is leading the opposition to New Delhi’s entry to the NSG club, said a few diplomats of member nations after a closed-door meeting on Thursday. Two days after a summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama, which included an announcement of a six-reactor deal involving Westinghouse AP1000 technology, Secretary of State John Kerry has written to member countries asking them “not to block consensus on Indian admission”, Reuters reported.
Tearing apart claims of the government and the BJP that the PM’s just-concluded tour to several countries, including the United States, as a big strategic and diplomatic success, he dismissed as a “big zero” the sum total of the foreign visits and foreign policy initiatives.
In Vienna, the US, Russia and other major countries supported India’s membership bid.
He dedicated much of the speech to the importance of fighting terrorism, thanking Congress for USA support after a Pakistan-based military group’s rampage in Mumbai killed 166 people in 2008.
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During Modi’s trip to the United States, the logistics exchange memorandum of agreement was finalised with finite cooperation and applicability, sources said. Also, Pakistan is against signing another crucial treaty, the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty which ensures a permanent cap on enhancing fissile material. Japan too has expressed its support for India’s inclusion in the grouping.
