India’s efforts for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group will come to a head on Thursday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar rushed to Seoul for a last-mile push at the NSG plenary scheduled for Thursday, as India received more support for its case from France.
In public statements neither India nor China, that has opposed India’s bid on the ground that it is a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, indicated that they are any closer to a breakthrough in the next two days.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said for the third consecutive day that the issue of non-NPT state membership was not on the agenda at Seoul. Even so, Ms. Hua admitted for the first time that unofficial discussions on the applications from India and Pakistan had been taking place.
“The group has had three unofficial discussions related to the entry of non-NPT countries through Friends of Chair presided over by the Argentine Ambassador,” she told The Hindu in a written response.
( With Kallol Bhattacherjee )
