His comments come after India’s push for becoming a member of the NSG came a cropper at the plenary meeting of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group recently as divisions persisted over admitting non-NPT members with China leading the opposition to it.
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India is not a signatory to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that was the ground used to reject India’s bid.
“To this end, China had pushed the NSG to conduct informal discussions under the Argentina Chairmanship”, he said.
Switzerland’s reversal is in some ways most egregious because it declared its support for India’s membership earlier this month.
“There are some processes which take longer, I’d evaluate the NSG membership process in that category”, news agency ANI quoted ministry of external affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup as saying.
The issue of considering applications of non-NPT countries, including India, was not on the main agenda of the NSG’s closed-door plenary.
China’s chief negotiator at the NSG told reporters that the group would not bend the rules for India’s inclusion into nuclear the club. Not only has India lobbied the NSG nations, but the U.S. too has thrown its heft behind New Delhi.
Earlier, Wang Qun, Director General of China’s Department of Arms Control, told reporters here that for a country to be a member of NSG, signing of NPT “is a must” and warned “if exceptions are allowed here or there on the question of NPT, the worldwide non-proliferation will collapse altogether”. South Korea, which took over the chairmanship of the nuclear cartel steered the discussion on India’s membership, said sources.
“It is an embarrassment for India to do what was not required”. Neither is Pakistan.China has been walking a very fine line against India’s membership to the NSG, and has found itself increasingly isolated.
India’s bid to become a member nation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has failed, according to reportscoming out of Seoul, where a plenary session of the 48-nation bloc began today.
The Congress Party on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should realize that diplomacy needs depth and seriousness and not hype.
Brazil supported India’s bid for NSG membership but called for common criteria for all non-NPT states (See: NSG talks stretch on as Brazil joins anti-India camp).
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“China doesn’t support Pakistan or India to enter NSG until they follow rules established by members. Whatever we had to get, we have got it”, 83-year-old Sinha said.
