The government on Wednesday again blamed China for creating what it described as a procedural hurdle in India's NSG membership bid, even as it said it continued to engage Beijing on the issue. Speaking in Lok Sabha, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj also declared that India was not going to sign the non-proliferation treaty to attain membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Swaraj said China had raised questions over how a non-NPT signatory could become a member of the NSG. The minister also asserted that membership of NSG, which has already allowed India to participate in nuclear commerce, was significant for India as it did not want to remain in the “verandah'' but in the room where decisions were being made. “We are still engaging with China. We have not stopped efforts. If someone says no once, it doesn't mean he will say no forever,'' Swaraj said during question hour.
Swaraj said India had a “clear-cut'' policy on NPT and while it would continue to abide by the commitments it made in 2008 when it acquired a waiver from NSG to carry out nuclear commerce, it was not going to sign the NPT. Swaraj also brushed aside suggestions that India had created unnecessary hype ahead of the NSG plenary in Seoul and that the failure to become a member was a diplomatic snub as it came just after PM Narendra Modi's visit to Mexico and Switzerland.
Swaraj said China had raised questions over how a non-NPT signatory could become a member of the NSG. The minister also asserted that membership of NSG, which has already allowed India to participate in nuclear commerce, was significant for India as it did not want to remain in the “verandah'' but in the room where decisions were being made. “We are still engaging with China. We have not stopped efforts. If someone says no once, it doesn't mean he will say no forever,'' Swaraj said during question hour.
Swaraj said India had a “clear-cut'' policy on NPT and while it would continue to abide by the commitments it made in 2008 when it acquired a waiver from NSG to carry out nuclear commerce, it was not going to sign the NPT. Swaraj also brushed aside suggestions that India had created unnecessary hype ahead of the NSG plenary in Seoul and that the failure to become a member was a diplomatic snub as it came just after PM Narendra Modi's visit to Mexico and Switzerland.
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