 "NSG to take up Pakistan, India's membership requests this week")
The admission of India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is taking new turns every day. China has now lowered its stance against India's membership by saying that NSG is open to discussing the entry of the countries who have not signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The 48- member club manages the flow of nuclear technology all over the world, with an aim to ensure the non proliferation of nuclear weapons and technologies. India has been vying hard for years to be part of this group as it would help the nation gain access to a plethora of new technologies, reduced depence on conventional sources of energy, among others.
This year with firm support from nations like United States, United Kingdom, Russia, India has a bright chance of getting into NSG. But, Pakistan with the backing of China is hell-bent on blocking this with the argument that the admission of a non-NPT signatory into the group is discriminatory. It says that all the nations who have not signed this treaty should be considered for the entry into the group.
China firmly supports this stand of Pakistan and says that they are not against India's admission to NSG but then Pakistan's membership should also be discussed. Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry said the issue of India's membership to the 48-member group wasn't even on the agenda of the NSG's plenary meeting in Seoul. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Beijing said: "We understand that non-NPT countries are concerned about their entry into the NSG. But since NSG is still divided about the issue, so it is still not mature to talk about the entry issue in the annual conference in Seoul."
Pakistani Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, said that Pakistan has a strong case to gain NSG membership on merit and non-discriminatory basis."We have been making successful efforts against India's Nuclear Suppliers Group membership," he said.
Aziz said that Pakistan's political role would increase after becoming full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. He said Pakistan enjoyed historical relations with the Muslim world which were based on common religion and recent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Muslim countries will not affect Pakistan's ties with them.
He added that Pakistan was not being isolated and its official foreign policy was being tuned to the new alignments in the world.
All these statements came ahead of the NSG meet in Seoul which is sceduled for this week on June 24, where the matters concerning India's entry and non-NPT signatories will be discussed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to Tashkent to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on June 23-24. He is likely to have talks on the sidelines with Chinese President Xi Jinping there.
For India's successful bid to the NSG, it is critical that China supports India, as this nuclear group is made on pure consensus and opposition by even a single member nation will thwart all the hopes of India.
