Xi and Modi to meet in Tashkent.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping set to meet in Tashkent on Thursday afternoon, the US and France are leaning on the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) members to arrive at a “positive decision”. The expert-level sessions in Seoul over the last two days are learnt to have discussed the membership issue before the two-day plenary session beginning on Thursday.

It is learnt that the US feels that while India is ready for the membership, Pakistan is not. Washington is understood to have conveyed that India’s case is “very compelling”, and it does not need to give any “additional assurances” to the NSG — beyond the commitment given by then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in 2008 when the country-specific exemption was granted.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Wednesday reached Seoul, where Indian officials led by MEA’s Joint Secretary (disarmament and international security) Amandeep Singh Gill are already stationed. He will be there to “answer any clarifications” if the NSG needs him to, sources said.

Emphasising that India’s entry into the four multilateral export control regimes, including NSG, will “bolster international efforts on combating proliferation”, the French foreign ministry on Wednesday called on the members to “take a positive decision”.

“In line with its active and long-standing support to India’s entry to the NSG as a full-fledged member, France calls on its members, who are meeting on June 23 in Seoul, to take a positive decision,” France said on Wednesday.

“France considers that India’s entry into the four multilateral export control regimes (NSG, MTCR, The Australia Group, The Wassenaar Arrangement) will bolster international efforts on combating proliferation. India’s participation in these bodies will help better regulate the export of sensitive goods, whether they are nuclear, chemical, biological, ballistic or conventional materials or technologies,” it added.

This came on a day China’s foreign ministry said that NSG members “have had three rounds of unofficial discussions” on the membership of India and Pakistan. While Beijing maintained that the entry of the two countries was not on the agenda of the two-day NSG plenary, it also underlined the differences within NSG members, saying “parties are yet to see eye-to-eye on this issue”. On its part, Beijing will play a constructive role in the discussions, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

Source From : indianexpress.com