Top diplomats of India and China on Tuesday held “candid, pragmatic and substantive” discussions on New Delhi’s bid for the Nuclear Suppliers Group membership, an attempt that China had blocked two months ago by raising technical issues.
China, however, conveyed that it has not yet taken a position on any country-specific membership in the category of the non-NPT states. Chinese diplomats said they support the notion of two-step approach within the NSG to address the question relating to membership to non-NPT states which are to explore and reach agreement on a non-discriminatory formula applicable to all the non-NPT states, and then proceed to take up country-specific membership issues at the second stage.
While the meeting remained inconclusive, the two sides agreed to intensify their exchanges on the relevant issues and hold the next round of consultation in China. The Chinese delegation was led by Director General of Department of Arms Control Wang Qun while the Indian side led by Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
“The talk covered issues of mutual interest in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation. As agreed by the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in their meeting on August 13, the two sides focused in particular on an issue of priority for India’s membership of the NSG,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
According to sources, India reiterated its impeccable track-record in the non-proliferation area and stressed on its requirement for clean energy. Sources said India conveyed to the Chinese side that its implementation of NPT principles was second to none.
China, however, said that the question of the non-NPT states’ participation mainly a multilateral issue and can only be subject to multilateral solution by the NSG and the bilateral exchanges like this should serve to facilitate the relevant discussions within the Group.
“On the question of non-NPT states’ participation in the NSG, given that it is an issue of major concern to India, China, for its part, shared with India the recent developments as it sees within the group in relation to the question. China also shared with India its principled positions and views on the above question. In the meantime, China listened to and had the inputs from India on this issue, and indicated that it will bring such views and inputs back to the group for its consideration. China hopes the above inputs will help facilitate the relevant discussions within the group,” the Chinese Government said in a statement.
China pointed out that the issue of the non-NPT states’ participation in the NSG raises new questions for the group under the new circumstances, and the crux of the question is how to address the gap between the existing policies and practices of the non-NPT states and the existing international non-proliferation rules and norms based on the NPT as the cornerstone.
Wang, who was the chief negotiator for China in the South Korea meet in June, had insisted in Seoul that signing of the NPT was a precondition for getting NSG membership while maintaining that if exceptions are allowed on this, the international non-proliferation regime will collapse altogether.
On Tuesday, Chinese side clarified that it wishes to see early commencement of an open and transparent inter-governmental process to undertake a comprehensive and study on the question of the non-NPT states’ participation in the NSG in various aspects, as adopted by the NSG at its Seoul Plenary meeting.
“China has hitherto not yet taken a position on any country-specific membership in the category of the non-NPT states. And China supports the notion of two-step approach within the group to address the above question, i.e., at the first stage, to explore and reach agreement on a non-discriminatory formula applicable to all the non-NPT states, and to proceed to take up country-specific membership issues at the second stage. China, for its part, expressed its readiness to actively participate in the above process within the group,” the Chinese government said in a statement.