NEW DELHI – India is mounting another strong bid for admission to theNuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an elite club of 48 countries that deal withfissile materials and nuclear technology, which is set to meet in June andDecember this year, three persons familiar with the hectic diplomaticactivities on the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The NSG is the only major export control regime India is not part of afterits entry into the Australia Group (January 2018), the Missile TechnologyControl Regime (June, 2016) and the Wassenaar Arrangement (December 2017).
Being a member of the NSG would be shot in the arm for the Narendra Modigovernment and a major policy achievement ahead of the next generalelections in 2019.
The issue of India’s entry came up for discussion at the Seoul plenary ofthe NSG last June, but Beijing did not agree on the grounds that India wasnot a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Though other countries also raised objections to Indian membership, Indiasaid “one country” consistently raised procedural hurdles, in an obliquereference to China. Beijing backed a two-step approach which stipulatesthat the NSG members first need to arrive at a set of principles for theadmission of non-NPT states into the NSG and then move forward with thediscussions on specific cases.
Officials said that fresh talks between Indian and Chinese officials on theissue were “forward looking”. Former foreign secretary Lalit Mansinghsuggested China had blocked India’s entry primarily on account of thestrain in bilateral ties.
“There is a perceptible change in the bilateral ties after Modi meetingPresident Xi Jinping in Wuhan on April 27 and 28. So if China withdraws itsobjection, India could be a member of NSG,” he said.