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India rejects China contention for entry into nuclear suppliers group

India on Friday rejected China’s contention that it must sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to get membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), citing the example of France, which was part of the NSG without being a signatory to the NPT.India’s comments followed China’s reported blocking of India’s entry to the NSG earlier this month on grounds that it had not signed the NPT.“I think there is some confusion here. Even the NPT allows civil nuclear cooperation with non-NPT countries. If there is a connection, it is between the NSG and IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards and with export controls,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

“NSG members have to respect safeguards and export controls, nuclear supplies have to be in accordance with the NSG guidelines. The NSG is an ad hoc export control regime and France, which was not an NPT member for some time, was a member of the NSG since it respected NSG’s objectives,” said Swarup.

Liu Zhenmin, China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, later denied his country was blocking India’s bid for a membership to the NSG and said it will “work” with the members of the 48-nation grouping as well as India to find a solution.“, I think China will also work with others including Indian colleagues together to find a solution,” he had said