China virtually ruled out on Wednesday the possibility of India’s accession to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the meeting of the bloc in Seoul, reiterating that the inclusion of countries which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was not on the meeting agenda.

Officials had said a day ago that there was “room for discussion” and the “door was still open” for talks on the inclusion of non-NPT countries, triggering speculation that India’s aspiration to become a member was still alive.

It was speculated that China had softened its stand because of the intervention of the US, which is vigorously pursuing India’s case in the NSG.

As it turns out, that is not the case.

In a written response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said India’s inclusion was not on the agenda.

It said only the inclusion of countries that are signatories of NPT but not yet members of NSG that was on the agenda, not that of non-NPT countries.

The national flags of China and India at Vijay Chowk on Rajpath in New Delhi.

“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. As for the entry of non-NPT countries, the group has never put that on its meeting agenda,” the MFA said.

“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,” it added.

It said that the SG 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 response added that China was still open to discussing the issue with other NSG members and that three unofficial meetings have been held to discuss the inclusion 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,” the response said.

“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,” the MFA added.

Source From : hindustantimes.com