WASHINGTON (Web Desk) – The United States has claimed that there is a ‘path forward’ for India to become a full member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
“We are confident that we have got a path forward by the end of this year,” a top Obama administration official said.
“It needs some work. But we are confident that India would be a full member of the (NSG) regime by the end of the year,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“But the US strongly believes in India’s membership in the NSG and the Obama administration has worked closely with New Delhi and other countries on this issue,” the official said.
The statement came hours after the group’s plenary meeting ended in Seoul with no decision on India’s membership in face of strong China-led opposition.
Refusing to divulge the nature of the opposition to India’s membership within the 48-member grouping, the official said details of the internal deliberations were confidential.
The NSG met this week in Seoul, but China said it would not bend the rules and allow India membership, as it had not signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “Applicant countries must be signatories of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT),” Wang Qun, the head of arms control department in China’s Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying in Seoul on Thursday night.
