The 48 participating governments of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) should adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of NSG membership for non-NPT states rather than the creation of another country-specific exemption, says SASSI DG Dr Maria Sultan.
An in-house session on ‘Media Outreach and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)’ was organised by the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) on Tuesday. It was attended by a number of policy researchers and media personnel who discussed the issues and challenges regarding Pakistan’s pending membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the importance of media outreach on this issue.
Also attending was Intelligence and International Security Studies Director Brig (retd) Ishaq Ahmed Khattak at South Asian Strategic Stability Institute University.
Dr Maria Sultan emphasised that the Indian Ocean was a hotspot for international trade. She described the whole case of Pakistan’s application for membership of NSG. She said that India did not fulfill the conditions which were mandatory for NSG’s membership which included the separation of military and civilian fuel cycle (as of yet a pre-condition for the NSG waiver India received) placement of all civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, Indian fast breeder reactor programme, independent regulatory authority, export control regulations, illicit procumbent, illicit trafficking and procumbent diversion of civil nuclear assistance for weapon use.
Dr Maria also discussed India’s dismal nuclear safety record, highlighting the many nuclear incidents and few accidents over the years. She said, ‘No matter how much India wants access into a different league, the fact remains that the cases of India and Pakistan remain hyphenated’. ‘If India resolves outstanding disputes and stands with Pakistan as an equal regional partner only then can it seek to address its ‘prestige complex.’ While talking about Pakistan’s engagement with NSG, she said that Pakistan’s engagement with NSG predates 2003 and since 2011 concerted efforts are aimed at NSG membership, and outreach meetings with NSG were arranged in 2011 (Vienna), 2013 (Ankara), 2015 (Vienna).
Brig (retd) Ishaq Ahmed Khattak, while talking about the issue of the NSG and the strategic partnership between the US and India, highlighted that this strategic partnership goes back to 1999, when they signed the Next Steps for Strategic Partnership (NSSP) initiative. This initiative ultimately led to US-India cooperation in the fields of civil nuclear activities, civil space programmes and high-tech trade. In addition, the two countries agreed to expand their dialogue on missile defence systems.
Supplementary presentations on nuclear power in Pakistan and nuclear strategic stability in the South Asian region were given by Ibrahim Aleem and Khola Sayed, Research Fellows at SASSI, who explained that Pakistan is currently facing a power crisis and further development of nuclear energy can help bring the country out of this situation.
Furthermore, as the world turns away from fossil fuels as a source of energy, Pakistan also needs to switch to environmentally cleaner sources of energy.
The NSG is currently holding its Annual Plenary Meeting in Bern, Switzerland, from the 21st to the 24th of June, following the Extraordinary Plenary held on 9th June 2017 in Vienna, Austria.