New Delhi: China’s contention that India must sign the NPT to get membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group was rejected by the External Affairs Ministry stating that France was included in the elite group without signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“I think there is some confusion here. Even the NPT allows civil nuclear cooperation with non-NPT countries. If there is a connection, it is between the NSG and IAEA safeguards and with export controls,” MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
He was responding about a Chinese official linking China’s support to India's bid for NSG to the country signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“NSG members have to respect safeguards and export controls, nuclear supplies have to be in accordance with the NSG Guidelines. The NSG is an ad hoc export control regime and France, which was not an NPT member for some time, was a member of the NSG since it respected NSG’s objectives,” said Swarup.
China has opposed India’s bid to get NSG membership on the ground that it was yet to sign the NPT.
China had said all the multilateral non-proliferation export control regime including the NSG have regarded NPT as an important standard for the expansion of the NSG.
Liu Zhenmin, China’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, later denied that his country was blocking India's bid for a membership in elite NSG and said it will work with the members of the 48-nation grouping as well as India to find a solution. President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to raise the issue during his visit to Beijing next week.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday said that it has formally applied for the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, after China blocked India’s entry into the 48-member elite group.
The Foreign Office (FO) said that Pakistan’s Ambassador in Vienna on Thursday applied for the membership through a letter addressed to the NSG Chairman.
Pakistan said the decision to seek participation in the export-control regime reflects Pakistan's strong support for international efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
