Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday said the statement of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj regarding Pakistan-India relations is surprising, ARY News reported.
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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said his government has the aim of engaging with all the country present in the world by 2016.
China on Tuesday underlined its view that the Nuclear Suppliers Group should focus on agreeing criteria for the entry of new members rather than on India’s specific case, but said the “door is still open” for continuing discussions.
Asked whether China was linking India’s membership of the nuclear group with Pakistan, Swaraj said India’s stand was that each country’s membership should be decided on merit.
“I think a consensus is being made, and I don’t think any country will break that consensus, and this time we will get the NSG membership”, Ms. Swaraj told reporters at the MEA’s annual press conference, adding that she had personally spoken to 23 of the 48 countries in the NSG. “We are very clear on Pakistan”. The NSG allows member countries to export civil nuclear technology, equipment and material to India. “Countries such as Norway, New Zealand, South Africa and China all hold reservations about India’s inclusion into the NSG”, the article said.
“We envisaged growth in FDI and Skill India programmes through various foreign visits, and have moved ahead with various nations in nuclear agreements”, Swaraj said.
Stating that China is talking about the criteria and procedure to be adopted for membership of the 48-nation atomic trading bloc, Swaraj said India hoped to convince China to give its backing.
India on Sunday hoped that China will support its bid to get into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) while stressing that terror and talks can not go together in its engagement with Pakistan. With India’s NSG membership, the usa, the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, can sell its nuclear technology to India.
“India joining NSG does not harm China’s own interests”.
The Chinese media has said that India’s entry to the NSG will “shake the strategic balance in South Asia and even cast a cloud over peace and stability in the entire Asia-Pacific region”.
Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar had made a two-day trip to China on June 16 and 17 to discuss India’s NSG membership with his Chinese counterpart.
“We have made our views known both publicly and privately, and we’ll continue to do so”, Earnest said when asked if the USA has reached out to members of the NSG in support of India’s application. “We only care about non-proliferation treaty”.
“Refusing to reward them is the first step towards holding them accountable for their actions”, said Modi taking aim at the USA aid to Pakistan.
“And the United States calls on participating governments to support India’s application at the plenary later this week, he said”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to now lobby with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he meets him on the sidelines of the SCO Summit at Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 23.
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The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) works on the basis of consensus to deal with matters such as on matters such as the review of the NSG Guidelines, addition of new members and the NSG Procedural Arrangement.
