France extends support as India lobbies hard for NSG entry; PM Modi to meet Xi Jinping in Tashkent

From Uzbekistan to South Korea, India has launched a diplomatic blitzkrieg to clinch the membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which is going down to the wire in the face of strong opposition by China and some other countries. While China leading the opposition, demands ‘criteria’ based approach for the entry of non-NPT nations, India has boiled down asking countries to consider 'merit' and its “past record of non-proliferation’. The criteria, according to Indian diplomats, was already decided by the NSG, when it granted New Delhi a waiver in 2008.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will test his diplomatic skills at the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent on Thursday evening, when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who was initially supposed to fly with PM was asked to straight head to Seoul. Senior external affairs ministry official Amandeep Singh Gill, in-charge of ‘Disarmament & International Security’ division, is already in Seoul over past few days to “garner” support as well as “explain” India’s case. 

While confirming Jaishankar’s flight to Seoul, where the NSG plenary is scheduled on Friday, the ministry of external affairs here has sealed lips , awaiting the outcome of foreign secretary’s behind-the-scenes meetings with movers and shakers. Official sources, here even cautioned the media as well not to jump to any conclusions as this was a delicate and complex process. “At this point, let us not speculate,” sources pleaded to media. 

A positive headway on Wednesday was that after the US, France came out openly strongly backing India’s s case, saying it will bolster global efforts against nuclear proliferation. A statement issued by the French Foreign Office asked the member states to take a “positive decision” in the Seoul plenary meeting. “France considers that India’s entry into the four multilateral export control regimes (NSG, MTCR, The Australia Group, The Wassenaar Arrangement) will bolster international efforts for combating proliferation,” the statement said. 

While Turkey, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand have also reservations to grant membership to India without signing the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), China’s opposition has been more strident. India has asserting that in the past France was also granted membership of the NSG, without being an NPT state. Also, there has been no change in India’s record, when it was granted a waiver by the same grouping in 2008.

The membership of NSG will enable India to trade in and export nuclear material and technology, making the nuclear business in the country more predictable, to avoid a repeat of a situation, when the US had abruptly stopped fuel supply to Tarapur Atomic Power Stations (TAPS) 1 and 2, in 70;s despite a tripartite agreement with India and the IAEA. The access to the NSG, is expected to help India’s ambitious energy generation programme that involves 63,000 MW energy through nuclear programme by 2030.

China said it will play a “constructive” role in the discussions on India’s bid for membership, but maintained that the issue was not on the agenda in Seoul. Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that NSG members had three rounds of unofficial discussions on the entry of India and Pakistan into the grouping. “China hopes to discuss further this issue and will play a constructive role in the discussions,” she said, adding the plenary meeting is only to deliberate on the entry of members who signed the NPT. “As for the entry of non-NPT countries, the group has never put that on its meeting agenda. Based on what we have at hand, the agenda of this year’s Seoul Plenary Meeting circulated by the Chair does not include this issue either,” she said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua has alleged that America's efforts to include India in the Nuclear Suppliers Group was part of a "greater design" to contain China and prevent the resurgence of Russia. He then listed "contain China, prevent the resurgence of Russia and keep the Muslim world in a controlled chaos" as some of the leading trends in the current global power politics, Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune reported. Pakistan's former permanent representative at the UN in Geneva Zamir Akram said that Pakistan was only opposed to "exclusive membership" of the NSG for India.

Against China absolving Pakistan government from proliferation, putting blame rouge scientist A Q Khan, a sources based report from the US, suggested that Islamabad was still selling nuclear materials to North Korea. The report and its timing appears aimed to blunt Pakistan's chances to seek parity with India.