NEW DELHI, June 20: As China claimed that the issue of India’s membership is not likely to come up for discussion during the plenary meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in Seoul, South Korea, India today maintained that the matter is coming up at the meeting of the elite group.
The External Affairs Ministry today said, “We remain optimistic on the issue. However, the NSG plenary meeting where this issue is coming up, is yet to take place.”
Sources in the the MEA advised TV news channels to refrain from running the highly premature reports announcing India’s NSG membership. “As EAM pointed out in her Press Conference yesterday we remain optimistic on the issue.
Channels would be well advised not to indulge in needless speculation, and wait for factual developments in the coming days,” he said. The MEA is yet to react to China’s assertions that the issue of Non-NPT members was not on the agenda of the NSG.
“The inclusion of non-NPT members has never been a topic on the agenda of NPT meetings. In Seoul this year, there is no such topic,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in Beijing.
China’s reaction comes a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that Beijing was not opposing India’s bid for the membership of the nuclear cartel.
The Minister has also expressed her hope that India would be able to convince China in the process of building consensus for its membership. (UNI)
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