Mohammad Jamil
At the end of its two-day plenary in Seoul, the NSG on Friday declared its firm support for the full, complete and effective implementation of the NPT as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime, a clear indication that no exception will be made in the case of India. The statement by the 48-nation grouping, however, said that it will continue to have discussions on participation of countries, which have not signed the NPT. Though it is nearly impossible to enter the nuclear club in which every member has veto and that too without signing NPT, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited scores of countries to seek their support for becoming the member of the NSG. Earlier, Switzerland had showed willingness to support Indian inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group but took a U-turn to join the group of countries that opposed India’s entry in the group.
China was joined by Austria, Ireland and Brazil among other countries which questioned as to how a country like India which had not signed the NPT can be admitted to the grouping. Essentially their opposition was couched in principles and processes. Brazil’s objections are said to have surprised the Indian diplomats who pointed out that it is a member of the 5-nation BRICS grouping. China’s stand that India’s membership application cannot be considered because it has not signed the NPT was backed by nearly 10 other countries. And despite backing of the US, the UK, France and a majority of countries in the nuclear trading group, India failed to the group’s membership. Official statement of the summit said: “Participating governments reiterated their firm support for the full, complete and effective implementation of the NPT as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime.”
Anyhow, India does not qualify to be a member of the NSG, as it was India that had tested nuclear device in 1974, and had also detonated nuclear devices in May 1998. Pakistan had to follow suit. Lapse in security of India’s nuclear assets is another reason, which was revealed by international experts during a Nuclear Security Summit. The experts expressed severe reservations over India’s protection of its nuclear material. Experts of the international nuclear security conference had stated that there were 5 cases of nuclear material theft in India over the past two decades. In 2013 guerrilla militants had stolen Uranium from the Army Complex, but the Indian army remained completely unaware of the incident. In April 2016, an independent US report by the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School declared the Indian nuclear program not only unsafe but also called for a satisfactory international oversight.
Meanwhile, the NSG decided that Switzerland will assume the Chairmanship of the NSG from 2017 to 2018 and will host the next plenary. The NSG also welcomed the growing number of states that have harmonised their national export control systems with the NSG guidelines and control lists. It also discussed options for enhancing outreach such as dedicated briefings for and meetings with interested non-NSG partners on the work of the group. It also decided to have a dedicated response to non-NSG partners seeking assistance and practical experience in developing, updating, strengthening and implementing national export control systems. It appears that India and Pakistan would be asked to join the NPT so that they could qualify to join the NSG. Since India is not likely to join the NPT, the majority members of the group would not like to give exception to India.
