China on Wednesday stuck to its guns, stating that India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was not on the agenda of talks in Seoul as of now. This goes against signals sent a day earlier that Beijing was open to talks regarding entry of new members who have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
In a written statement, the office of the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said: “As for the entry of non-NPT countries, the group has never put that on its meeting agenda. Based on what we have at hand, the agenda of this year’s Seoul Plenary Meeting circulated by the Chair does not include this issue either.”
Membership of non-NPT members
The Foreign Ministry, however, acknowledged that three rounds of “informal” discussions were held along a separate channel on the membership of non-NPT members.
“It is true that all parties attach great importance to the entry of non-NPT countries, and the group has had three unofficial discussions on various issues related to the entry of non-NPT countries through Friends of Chair presided over by the Argentine Ambassador. Although parties are yet to see eye to eye on this issue, such discussions help them better understand each other. China hopes to further discuss this issue and will play a constructive role in the discussions.”
Not blocking India’s entry?
China also sought to reject the impression that it was blocking India’s entry into the NSG. “The NSG has never put the entry application of non-NPT countries on its agenda, so it makes no sense to say that discussions are blocked.”
The Foreign Ministry stressed that only membership of countries that had signed the NPT was on the agenda of talks in Seoul. “Deliberation on the entry of specific countries is on the agenda of the Seoul Plenary Meeting. However, it is worth noting that the meeting is only to deliberate on the entry application of countries that are state parties to the NPT.”
