Damper for India’s entry into NSG

In the backdrop of the meeting of the P5 (UK, US, France, Russia and People’s Republic of China) to discuss issues related to nuclear disarmament, China has again reiterated its previous stand that India’s accession to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is pre-requisite for its membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) or else there should be a common guidelines for the membership of the non-NPT states.
India has refused to sign the NPT citing the discriminatory provisions which provide undue advantages to the nuclear weapon designated states.

Reasons cited by China for opposing India’s Bid

China justifies its stand by citing the following justifications:

• There should be no double standards in enforcing the NPT.
• NPT is the cornerstone for the international nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and post-war international security system.
• China has played important role in all the three aspects and China is committed to all three important goals of the treaty.
• The international community should stick to multilateralism and promote progress the three pillars namely non-proliferation, disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Hence China opposes double standards in enforcing the treaty.

Is there a hidden agenda?

All the members of P5 except China have endorsed India’s membership of NSG e based on India’s non-proliferation record.
After India’s application to the NSG, Pakistan also applied for the same. Pakistan is also a non-signatory to the NPT. Pakistan dubious record and its alleged role in technology transfer to North Korea have put a black mark in its track record.
Pakistan is a close ally of China and China is demanding a two-step approach which states that NSG members first need to arrive at a set of principles for the admission of non-NPT states into the group and then move forward discussions of specific cases.
This insistence of China has become a roadblock in attaining the membership of the NSG.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2019