India irked by China stalling its nuclear group membership

Hindi on placard reads, “Down with China”.

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. According to sources, there is possibility of India’s inclusion in the NSG, while New Delhi will continue to discuss the issue with China.

But the USA strongly believes in India’s membership in the NSG and the Obama Administration has “worked closely” with New Delhi and other countries on this issues, the official said.

Even as it emerged that NSG is likely to meet in the next few months, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “We will keep impressing upon China that mutual accommodation of interests, concerns and priorities is necessary to move forward bilateral ties”.

China apparently links India’s potential membership with archrival Pakistan, which applied later and has not yet been considered by the group.

India is not a signatory to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that was the ground used to reject India’s bid. India hasn’t, but it has committed to some controls of its nuclear program under a nuclear cooperation pact with the United States.

Ahead of the meeting, India had pushed its case with a number of countries, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the charge and also meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent urging him to take a decision on India’s membership on merit while seeking Beijings support.

On Sunday, Swarup said India had taken up the issue with China at multiple levels.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry sang different tunes, first saying that it was not targeting any country such as India or Pakistan and then taking a swipe at the United States for backing India’s case citing the rule that countries which have not signed the NPT should not be allowed into NSG. This is going to be an important element of our discussion with China. “Whatever we had to get, we have got it”, 83-year-old Sinha, who has been critical of the government after being marginalised in the party, said.