In a green signal that came later than expected, British Prime Minister David Cameron has assured Indian counterpart Narendra Modi of the UK's "firm support" for India's Nuclear Suppliers Group membership bid. He confirmed the country's backing in a telephone call made to Modi on Monday.
"The Prime Minister spoke to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about India's application for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of nuclear supplier countries that works together to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons," a Downing Street spokesperson said. Adding, "The Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would firmly support India's application. They agreed that in order for the bid to be successful it would be important for India to continue to strengthen its non-proliferation credentials, including by reinforcing the separation between civil and military nuclear activity."
The NSG handles issues related to the nuclear sector and its members are allowed to trade in and export nuclear technology. India has been seeking membership of the group, which works under the principle of consensus and a single member-country's vote against India will dampen the deal. While majority of the elite group backed India's membership, China along with New Zealand, Ireland,Turkey, South Africa and Austria were opposed to it. China maintains opposition to India’s entry, arguing that it has not signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The Chinese official media went public over its stand regarding India's NSG bid, saying New Delhi's membership will touch a "raw nerve" in Pakistan, and increase a nuclear arms race in the region. The very first write-up on the issue said, "India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers in the region, keep alert to each other's nuclear capabilities. India's application and its potential consequences will inevitably touch a raw nerve in Pakistan, its traditional rival in the region."
"As Pakistan is not willing to see an enlarging gap in nuclear power with India, a nuclear race is a likely outcome. This will not only paralyse regional security, but also jeopardise China's national interests." The commentary titled 'India mustn't let nuclear ambitions blind itself' also said, "Last week, Indian PM Narendra Modi embarked on a diplomatic journey, travelling halfway across the world with his top goal to garner support for his country's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)" ahead of the plenary meeting of the group expected to be held in Seoul on June 24. "The US and some NSG members have given a push to India's bid, but the reported opposition from most countries, especially China, seems to have irritated India," it said.
India wooing doubters
India's diplomats have, meanwhile, mounted a final exercise to lobby the country's case for a seat NSG. The "no risk, no gain" mantra seems to be guiding the Modi government in the hectic diplomacy that may include a meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.
As one official observed, "Whether we get to the final or win the tournament, we have no option but to play the best match we can. India's last-mile push comes even as China muddied the waters on Monday with its foreign ministry saying the India membership question is not on the agenda of the plenary. Answering a question on the possibility of India not making the cut during a media interaction on Sunday, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj drew a revealing comparison with fighting elections. We, who contest Lok Sabha polls, don't think about such things. We are pursuing our objective with immense focus," she said.
US seeks support for India
"The United States calls on Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) participating governments to support India's application when it comes up at the NSG plenary, which I think is next week," state department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "I'm not going to get ahead of how that's going to go or hypothesise and speculate about where it's going to go, but we've made clear that we support the application," Kirby said in response to a question. During the US visit of Modi last week, US President Barack Obama welcomed India's application to the 48-member grouping.
Canada gives open support
At a time when questions are being raised about India's non-proliferation credentials, one of the world's leading proponents of the international non-proliferation regime, Canada, has come out openly in support of India saying that the presence of India in the exclusive nuclear club will actually strengthen the group's export controls. Canada also said that it was encouraging all NSG members to join in the consensus needed to achieve this objective “at the earliest possible date''. “India's role in international nuclear commerce is bound to keep growing in strength as the size of India's fleet of nuclear power plant, already one of the world's largest, rapidly increases,'' Canada's acting high commissioner, Jess Dutton, said.
“As such, we believe India's membership in the NSG will reinforce the international nuclear non-proliferation regime,'' he added.
