- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA on Thursday (2) said it continues to engage with members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for support for an early decision on New Delhi’s bid for a membership of the elite bloc.
V Muraleedharan, India’s minister of state for external affairs, said in the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Indian parliament, that the United States has publicly backed India’s entry into the NSG which deals with trade in nuclear technology and fissile materials besides contributing to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
“The government continues to engage with members of the NSG, at the appropriate levels, for support for an early decision on India’s membership by the group,” he said while replying to a question.
China, which is one among the NSG’s 48 member states, has been opposing India’s membership bid on the grounds that the latter is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It has even argued that if India allowed to become a member of the NSG without signing the NPT, then Pakistan, which has also sought its membership, should be made a member as well.
Beijing’s opposition has made New Delhi’s entry into the bloc difficult since the NSG works on the principle of consensus. Besides the US, countries like Russia, Germany, Italy, the UK and others have backed India’s bid for NSG membership.
The Indian minister said the government has been according the “highest priority” to advance the United Nations Security Council reforms, including India’s candidature for a permanent membership in a “reformed Security Council”, the most powerful body of the world body.
“India is actively engaged in the ongoing inter-governmental negotiations on the UNSC reform at the UN and has been working with other reform-oriented countries through its membership of the G-4 (India, Brazil, Germany and Japan) and the L.69 Group,” Muraleedharan said.
The L.69 is a cross-regional grouping of developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“The US has expressed public support to India’s candidature for permanent membership in an expanded UNSC,” he told the parliament.
