India’s hopes for NSG membership dashed at Seoul plenary

24 June, Seoul/New Delhi

India’s campaign for an entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group today came a cropper as the annual plenary of the 48-nation cartel ended without reaching a concrete decision on the issue of participation of non-NPT states.

“The NSG had discussions on the issue of Technical, Legal and Political Aspects of the Participation of non-NPT States in the NSG” and decided to continue its discussion,” Yun Byung-se, Foreign Minister of South Korea, the host of the plenary said in a statement.

A diplomatic slugfest started immediately after the meeting with China propagating that India’s bid for the membership of the group was hypothetical. A strong counter came from India, which said that despite procedural hurdles persistently raised by one country (read China), a three-hour long discussion took place on the issue of future participation in the NSG.

” The NSG concluded its plenary meeting in Seoul today. India was not of course in the room. But we understand from our friends and well-wishers that discussions on expansion of membership, or what is called Participation in NSG, were certainly not hypothetical,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a detailed statement.

At least seven members, including Switzerland, which had backed India’s bid during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Geneva earlier this month, are said to have opposed the inclusion of non-NPT states in the elite group that controls the nuclear trade all over the world. The issue will be further deliberated in the the next plenary, which will be chaired by Switzerland in 2017-18. India reiterated that that an early decision on its application remains in larger global interest.

“We are confident that the NSG will recognise these benefits as it deliberates further on this issue,” the MEA spokesperson said, adding that it would advance energy security and make a difference to combating climate change.