Almost two-and-a-half months after China scuttled India’s NSG membership bid, a Chinese delegation, led by Director General of Department of Arms Control Wang Qun, held talks with Indian delegation, led by Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security) in the Ministry of External Affairs, in New Delhi.
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“China has hitherto not yet taken a position on any country-specific membership in the category of the non-NPT states”.
India-China ties were hit after Beijing blocked New Delhi’s bid to join the NSG during a meeting in Seoul in June.
The discussions were candid, pragmatic and substantive.
China on Tuesday said that it supports the notion of a two-step approach within the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to address non- Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) states’ participation, which includes India and Pakistan.
In a statement issued after the NSG talks, China had pointed out that the issue of the participation of non-NPT states in the NSG raises new questions for the group under new circumstances, and the “crux of the.question is how to address the gap between the existing policies and practices of the non-NPT states and the existing global non-proliferation rules and norms based on the NPT as the cornerstone”.
“That is to say, China is yet to form a position on any specific non-NPT country”.
On the other hand, India thinks it is not necessary to be a NPT country for becoming a NSG member. “China, for its part, expressed its readiness to actively participate in the above process within the group”.
Yet his bid to win accession to the 48-member group, founded in response to India’s first atomic weapons test in 1974, has so far failed to win over strategic rival China, which enjoys a de facto veto because the group operates by consensus.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is campaigning to join the NSG in order to back a multibillion dollar drive to build nuclear power plants in partnership with Russian Federation, the United States and France to reduce India’s reliance on polluting fossil fuels. China also announced that its State Councillor and top diplomat Yang Jiechi will attend a meeting of the BRICS countries’ national security advisers in India.
She, however, said she has no information about bilateral meeting between Yang and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Doval and Yang are Special Representatives for India-China boundary talks as well.
The two sides also had in-depth discussions on issues related to cyber security and the work of the Conference on Disarmament.
Ahead of BRICS National Security Advisors meeting in Delhi, China on Wednesday said it wants member countries to strengthen coordination on security issues and play a major role in worldwide affairs. “China hopes the above inputs will help facilitate the relevant discussions within the group”, the Chinese Government said in a statement.
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The meeting is being held ahead of BRICS leaders summit.
