Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / Policy/  NSG membership: India likely to woo China at Tashkent
BackBack

NSG membership: India likely to woo China at Tashkent

With both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping set to attend SCO meet, China may be persuaded to back India's NSG entry

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Tashkent. Photo: ReutersPremium
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Tashkent. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: With India’s membership of the exclusive Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) set to come up before the bloc’s plenary meeting in Seoul later this month, India may have one more chance to persuade China to give up its opposition to India’s candidature.

This is expected to be at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tashkent where both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping are expected to be present. The meeting of the SCO, which is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation, founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is to take place on 23-24 June in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. With both leaders likely to attend, a bilateral on the sidelines of the SCO meet is not ruled out.

Interestingly, the dates of the SCO meet coincide with that of the NSG—which controls global nuclear commerce—in Seoul.

India presented its application to join the NSG on 12 May; it was taken up for consideration on 9-10 June in Vienna. But the meeting remained inconclusive, with China holding out on the grounds that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The NSG works on the basis of consensus and therefore all members have to agree on admission of new members.

India which got a one-time waiver from the NSG to buy atomic power plants and related technologies from the global market, is looking for NSG membership so as to access an entire range of sensitive knowhow from NSG members. Formed in 1974 in the aftermath of India’s first nuclear test, NSG counts nuclear weapon states the US, Russia, China, Britain and France as members. The rest of the members of the 48-nation group are all signatories to the NPT; India, calling the treaty discriminatory, has not signed up to it.

Opponents argue that granting India membership would undermine efforts to prevent proliferation. It would also anger Pakistan, an ally of China’s, which has responded to India’s membership bid with its own.

According to three diplomats from Western missions based in New Delhi, India is being quite ambitious in its expectations of joining the NSG so soon, given that it formally presented its application only on 12 May.

In Seoul too, “the membership question is expected to go down to the wire given that China is objecting", said one Western diplomat who did not want to be identified.

There are objections from other countries, too—for example New Zealand and Austria. “They are not really opposed to India’s candidacy but are in favour of arriving at a consensus on a minimum set of criteria for the admission of new members," said the second diplomat who too did not want to be named.

A third Western diplomat said that the Vienna meet looked primarily at India’s application for membership and not that of Pakistan which has also applied. Pakistan’s candidature was being pushed by China, this diplomat said. “No one really wants Pakistan in the NSG given its record," the diplomat said alluding to revelations a decade ago that Pakistan’s nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan clandestinely sold nuclear technology to countries such as North Korea.

Should Modi meet Xi on the sidelines of the SCO, it would be the second time that India would be approaching the Chinese at the highest levels. Last month, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on a visit to China had broached the subject of India’s application at the NSG to Xi in the context of India’s vast energy requirements, its commitments to cutting emissions and generating 40% of its energy requirements from renewable and clean sources.

“The broad approach that the president took was that like many developing countries, India did suffer from an acute energy shortage, that in fact 300 million people in India did not have basic access to power. And, that as we expand power generation, we also have to mindful of our responsibilities to climate change... to do that, we need a predictable environment so that we ourselves and our international partners make that kind of large commitment," foreign secretary S. Jaishankar told reporters in Beijing on 26 May.

“President (Mukherjee) asked President Xi to give it his personal attention," Jaishankar said.

According to Rajeshwari Rajagopalan, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) think tank in New Delhi, persuading China would be an uphill task.

“China has been already too loud and open about its opposition to India’s entry into NSG and therefore unlikely that it will change its stand and support India..." she said.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 13 Jun 2016, 01:07 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App