India’s race to secure membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is going down to the wire but prospects of securing membership at the Seoul NSG meet on June 24 appear increasingly bleak due to
India’s race to secure membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is going down to the wire but prospects of securing membership at the Seoul NSG meet on June 24 appear increasingly bleak due to China’s obstinacy. Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold make-or-break parleys with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit there on Thursday as a last-ditch effort to convince him, Pakistan on Tuesday boasted that it had successfully blocked India’s bid. Its fair-weather friend China, meanwhile, continued to stonewall India’s bid while taking a swipe at the US for backing India.
Mr Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs adviser to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, Tuesday told the Pakistani Parliament that Islamabad has “successfully” blocked India’s bid. In Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry appeared to sing different tunes — all aimed at blocking India’s bid — by first saying it was not targeting any country and then taking a swipe at the US for backing India’s case and citing the rule that countries that have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty should not be allowed into the NSG. The US, meanwhile, asked the NSG members to consider and support India’s application in Seoul.
In Islamabad, Mr Aziz said, “We have been making successful efforts against India’s NSG membership.” In Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry reiterated that the “door is open” for discussions but again emphasised whether criteria for memberships should be changed instead of making exceptions.
The US Tuesday said, “We believe, and this has been US policy for some time, India is ready for membership and the US calls on participating governments to support India’s application at the plenary session of NSG later this week.” Pakistan President Mamnoon Hus-sain will represent Pak-istan at the SCO Summit where Islamabad is exp-ected to try to counter Mr Modi’s outreach to China.
