In what comes as a major relief to India, the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) on Friday said to be considering "all aspects" to waive off conditions that prohibit New Delhi from nuclear trade with its members States.
"The NSG continues to consider all aspects of the implementation of the 2008 Statement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation with India and discussed the NSG relationship with India," reads a statement issued after the conclusion of 48-nation grouping's plenary meeting.
The statement holds significance as the NSG in 2011 adopted new guidelines on the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology that will effectively nullify the "clean" waiver India received from the cartel in 2008 as far as the import of enrichment and reprocessing equipment and technology (ENR) is concerned.
In September 2008, the NSG participating governments agreed to grant India a "clean waiver" from its existing rules, which forbid nuclear trade with a country which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Referring to the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons as the cornerstone of the global security architecture, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev acknowledged the "significant role of the NSG in maintaining the international non-proliferation regime, while not hindering at the same time the inalienable right of every NPT Member State to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."
India is yet to gain entry into the NSG, where the country's bid has been repetitively stonewalled by a small group led by China.
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