Toner went on to say deliberations about the prospects of new members joining the NSG are an internal matter among the current members who meet regularly.
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“Even in 10 years and with the huge budgets that India plans to spend on the development of nuclear weapons and capabilities, it is hard to imagine it will be able to defend its territory from possible strikes from Pakistan in case of conflict”, Topychkanov said at a Strategic Institute Vision seminar entitled “Non-Proliferation and Strategic Stability in South Asia: A Russian Perspective” in Islamabad recently.
The United States today reacted on Pakistan’s opposition to India’s membership bid to the Nuclear Supplier Group and said that the membership is not just about arms race. If India becomes the member of NSG, then Pakistan will face problems in future.
At a regular briefing, when asked if the US State Department was confident that it had generated a consensus in the NSG in favour of India, spokesman Mark Toner stated that during his India visit in 2015, President Obama did affirm the US view that India had met the missile technology control regime requirements and was ready for a membership. “And we’ll consider based on a consensus decision”.
“The US has already supported the membership of India in the Nuclear Supplier Group”.
Meanwhile, Indian foreign policy experts have welcomed Toner’s statement that has been issued ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation Group. They [Pakistan] have made public their interest, and certainly any country can submit its application for membership.
He confirmed that Pakistan was also keen to join the NSG.
The credit for making the country’s defence secure goes to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, said the premier, adding that South Asian countries came out of instability due to Pakistan’s nuclear programme. The group has so far opened its doors only to nations that are part of the nonproliferation treaty (NPT) or Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Pakistan has been apprehensive about India’s entry.
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Beijing argued that the application of countries that have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) should be treated as a whole, suggesting countries like Pakistan and Israel should also be considered along with India.
