New Delhi appeared to be less prepared for the responses of a few other countries including Brazil, Turkey and Switzerland – all of whom reportedly opposed India’s membership on the grounds that it isn’t a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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India’s not being a part of Non-proliferation treaty (NPT) states has come back to haunt it after Switzerland, which had earlier extended its complete support for its Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) bid, did an U-turn citing nuclear worries.
In an indirect reference to India’s application for membership of the cartel, the statement merely said, “The NSG chose to continue its discussions on the issue of Technical, Legal and Political Aspects of the Participation of non-NPT States in the NSG”.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reported attempts failed to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to support India’s membership, as Beijing stood firm in its opposition.
Putting up a courageous front, the ministry of external affairs said, “We are confident that the NSG will recognise the benefits of having India as it deliberates further on this issue”.
Vikas Swarup said that though India did not get “expected results” at the Seoul meeting, the country will continue to make determined efforts to get into NSG.
The participants “had discussions on the issue of technical, legal, and political aspects of the participation of non-NPT states in NSG and made a decision to continue with that”, communiqué said.
Earlier, China had opposed bending rules for India to join Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in the Seoul meeting. The Ministry of External Affairs also called the bluff of Chinese that India’s membership was not taken up during the plenary. Energy-starved India has set for itself an ambitious goal of sourcing 40% of its power from non-fossil sources and is relying heavily on nuclear energy to meet the target. “We are being perceived as a part of America’s military organisation and our situation has become like the Philippines and Israel”, JD (U) general secretary K C Tyagi said.
Talking about the countries, besides China, who had raised oppositions to India joining the NSG, he said there, is a bit of disinformation floating the matter.
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We have been supportive at the highest possible levels and will continue to do so as this plays out over the next day or so. There was a specific mention of “special plenary meeting” in the official statement released by NSG, Indian media claimed.
