Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that the world’s two largest democracies can anchor stability and prosperity from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific in an aspirational speech that glossed over continuing divisions in the relationship.
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Modi addressed members of the House of Representatives and the Senate a day after his meeting with US President Barack Obama, who backed India’s candidature for the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group.
“We firmly conveyed it to the United States that maintaining effective nuclear deterrence is critical for Pakistan’s security and only Pakistan itself can determine how it should respond to growing strategic imbalance in South Asia”, he said.
On June 6, Switzerland, an important member of the NSG, extended support to India’s membership in the group during Modi’s stopover in Geneva. “We have agreed to develop a roadmap of concrete outcomes to upgrade our ties to a strategic partnership”.
Earlier this week, India also gained entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a non-proliferation group.
China, on the other hand, has propped up Pakistan in the group and has indicated that until India’s neighbour is accepted into the NSG, it will not vote for India.
There is no direct advantage to becoming a member but India hopes that this will help make the USA consider exporting UAVs, Reaper and Global Hawk to India. Statements during the meetings by countries like Sweden in support of India could also turn the tide in India’s favour. China, a major NSG member, is still holding out, citing that India needs to sign the NPT.
“We have made a clear and strategic choice to support India’s transition to become, as foreign secretary S Jaishankar has articulated, a leading power”.
India’s strategy till now has been to try and win support from all other NSG members, isolating China and forcing it to choose between remaining a lonely holdout or reluctantly agreeing to New Delhi’s bid – as it did in 2008 over a waiver following the India-US nuclear deal. The NSG takes decisions through consensus, and even one vote against a proposal is sufficient to block it.
India has been pushing for membership of the bloc for last few years and had formally moved its application on 12 May.
“New era in India – Mexico relations have begun and the relationship will benefit our people and the world”, the Prime Minister tweeted in Spanish. “Five days, five countries!” Modi had visited Switzerland, another key member of the NSG, before travelling to the United States, and the European country – known to have strong proliferation concerns – had announced its support to India’s candidature for the atomic trading club.
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The industry is ready to meet global obligations to ensure that manufacture and trade of dual use items are not diverted or re-exported for unauthorized use, Ficci said hoping that the USA will push for India’s membership at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
