India’s NSG bid | 22 Jun 2019

China has clarified that India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was not on the agenda of the plenary of the grouping that concluded in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) on 21st June, 2019.

• It also stated that discussion on India’s entry into the 48-nation club would take place only after reaching a specific plan on non-NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) members’ participation in the grouping.
• It has also refused to suggest a deadline by which such a consensus can be reached among the member states.
• China has been objecting to India's participation in the grouping since May, 2016 when India applied for the membership of the NSG.
• China has been firm on its stand that only those countries which have signed the NPT should be allowed to enter the organisation.
• Majority of the NSG member states including the US, Russia, Iceland, Denmark, Finland , Sweden and Norway back for India’s membership in the grouping considering its non-proliferation record.
• India is keen to become a member of NSG as it seeks to significantly expand its nuclear power generation and also enter the export market in coming years.

NSG

• The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was created following the explosion in 1974 of a nuclear device by a non-nuclear-weapon State (India), which demonstrated that nuclear technology transferred for peaceful purposes could be misused.
• It is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear-related exports.
• The grouping has 48 participating governments and the NSG Guidelines are implemented by each member in accordance with its national laws and practices.
• The NSG takes decisions by consensus.