US is expected to push for India’s inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) by October this year, according to a diplomatic official.
The NSG’s consultative group is tentatively scheduled to meet in October and a special session of the 48-member nuclear trade cartel is likely to be organised around the same time for considering Indian candidature.
The Obama administration will make an attempt to fulfil the outgoing president’s promise with India before the US presidential elections scheduled for November.
READ MORE: India may become NSG member by year-end: US
The United States, which is the primary supporter of the Indian bid, had vowed to get it admitted before the end of the year after the stalemate on India’s entry into the NSG at the group’s plenary meeting in Seoul in June.
Zahir Kazmi, a Pakistani official who was speaking at the Strategic Vision Institute (SVI) seminar on ‘Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Politics of NSG and its Implications for Pakistan’, however, believes that the deadlock in the NSG on India’s membership will not be resolved anytime soon.
He said that Pakistan remained hopeful of simultaneous entry into the NSG along with India because of support within the NSG for criteria-based approach.
“Only uniform criteria-based approach will break the impasse,” the official added.
Besides China, which is the main supporter of adherence to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) criterion for entry into the NSG, a number of other countries in the NSG have been calling for uniform admission criteria, are opposed to giving an exception to India.
READ MORE: India’s NSG membership bid calls for in-depth discussion: Chinese envoy
US support for India flows from Indo-US strategic partnership, which first led to the nuclear deal and then NSG waiver (for India) was managed giving it the status of a de-facto member of the group. The US is now going all out to get India the status of a full member of the NSG, which would put India firmly in the nuclear mainstream.
Pakistani officials contend that the Indo-US strategic partnership and the nuclear deal destabilised the region and exacerbated Pakistan’s security dilemma.
“If the US continually pushes for India’s exclusive entry into the NSG, bilateral relations with Pakistan would not be ‘business as usual’. The people of Pakistan will not accept such discrimination,” said Kazim.
Pakistan’s former permanent representative at UN in Geneva, Zamir Akram, said the debate at the NSG was moving towards new membership criteria because India being a non-NPT state did not fulfil the NPT consideration.
SVI President Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema said that India’s entry alone into the NSG would put back Pakistani efforts for developing its infrastructure and industry by decades, besides having serious consequences for national security and economic and industrial development.
He observed that the world in its obsession for India should not forget that India was one of the worst proliferators.
He called on the government to pro-actively continue diplomatic engagement with NSG members over the issue of admission of non-NPT states.
US needs to get India NSG membership to fuel the 6 nuclear reactors it proposed to build in India. Currently the Nuclear energy marked is completely dominated by the Russians and US would want to cut into Russia's share. That is why nobody cares about what a failed and terrorist state like papistan thinks in this matter
very well said bro..long live india…love from pakistan occupied kashmir( hell on earth)
i am from afganistan…i love india …india is developing afganistan by buildind dams schools and afgan parliament and roads…long live india pakistan friendship…afganstan will support india membership in NSG and hopefully india will also get permanent seat in united nations.
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