Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 1, 2016. PTI file photo

Beijing, June 21

In an unusual move, China’s state media on Tuesday defended Pakistan’s nuclear record, saying it was AQ Khan who was responsible for atomic proliferation which was not backed by the government and argued that any exemption to India for NSG entry should also be given to Pakistan.“While India strives for Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) inclusion, it prevents Pakistan from joining by insisting on the latter’s bad record of nuclear proliferation. Actually, the proliferation carried out by Pakistan was done by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan’s chief nuclear scientist, and was not an official policy of the Pakistani government,” an article in the state-run Global Times said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook and Twitter @thetribunechd)“Khan was punished by the government afterwards with several years of house arrest. If the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the NSG can give India an exemption, it should apply to Pakistan as well,” it said.Read: Modi to meet Chinese President to win support for NSG  This is probably the first time Chinese official media has directly made a case for Pakistan’s inclusion in the NSG. China officially maintains that there should be consensus about admitting all members.“China and other countries are opposed to NSG including India while excluding Pakistan, because it means solving India’s problem but creating another bigger problem. If India joins hands with Pakistan to seek NSG membership, it seems more pragmatic than joining alone,” said the article titled ‘China no barrier to India joining NSG’.Read: China snubs, Foreign Secy Seoul-boundIndia and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998, which were condemned by the international community, and the US, the EU and Japan all imposed harsh sanctions on the two countries.After the September 11 attacks, the sanctions were gradually lifted. The US even signed with India a Civil Nuclear Agreement and backs India’s bid to join NSG. But the issue of the legitimacy of India’s “nuclear status” has not been solved, it said.“If India and Pakistan are allowed to join the NPT and adopt the CTBT, it will tarnish the authority of both. How can nuclear weapons development in other countries such as North Korea, Iran and Israel be dealt with?” the article said.The article put the blame of proliferation from Pakistan squarely on nuclear scientist Khan.Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for nuclear technology proliferation and was made to live a life of official house arrest. In 2009, the Islamabad High Court declared Khan to be a free citizen of Pakistan, allowing him free movement inside the country.The article came as the NSG began its meeting in Seoul, even as the Chinese foreign ministry said India’s admission is not on the agenda.The NSG remains divided over non-NPT countries like India becoming its members, China’s Foreign Ministry had said on Monday less than 24 hours after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had exuded hope that “we would be able to convince China to support our entry to the NSG”. PTI

Modi to meet Chinese President to win support for NSG

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File photo

New Delhi, June 21Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday (June 23) in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent in an attempt to win Beijing’s support for India’s membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).Modi will meet Jinping on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit meeting that is currently on in Tashkent. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation founded in 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.Sources said the meeting between Modi and Jinping would be an exclusive one-on-one discussion, where the top agenda would be to seek China’s support for India’s membership in the NSG.China, till now, has been playing the role of a dampener on the issue of clearing the way for India’s admission to the NSG, by repeatedly stating that it is not on the agenda of the grouping which began its plenary session in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday.On the other hand, the United States has called on the participating governments of the NSG to support India’s application for membership.State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a press briefing that Washington had not changed its stand regarding India’s application for membership to the elite group.“Well, as you know, during Prime Minister Modi’s visit, the President (Barack Obama) welcomed India’s application to join the NSG and reaffirmed that India is ready for membership. We continue to call–and nothing’s changed about our position. We continue to call on the participating governments of the NSG to support India’s application at the plenary session this week in Seoul,” he said.When asked if the Obama government has taken up the matter with China, who has been firmly against India’s inclusion in the NSG, Kerry asserted that the US had routinely spoken to other NSG participating members regarding the matter.“This is something that we have–India’s application is something we have routinely talked to other NSG participating members. This is not a new topic of discussion that we;ve had privately with the members,” he said. ANI

US again asks NSG members to support India’s bid

The US has given a fresh push to India’s NSG membership bid by asking members of the elite club to support India’s entry into the grouping during the ongoing plenary meeting in Seoul. PTI/AP file photo

Washington, June 21

Amid China’s opposition, the US has given a fresh push to India’s NSG membership bid by asking members of the elite club to support India’s entry into the grouping during the ongoing plenary meeting in Seoul.“We believe, and this has been US policy for some time, that India is ready for membership and the United States calls on participating governments to support India’s application at the plenary session of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.“At the same time, participating governments will need to reach a consensus decision in order to admit any applicant into the group and the United States will certainly be advocating for India’s membership,” Earnest said as the five-day annual plenary session of the 48-member club began in the South Korean capital on Monday.His remarks came after China said India’s membership is not on the agenda of the NSG meeting in Seoul.The NSG remains divided over non-NPT countries like India becoming its members, China’s Foreign Ministry had said on Monday less than 24 hours after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj exuded hope that “we would be able to convince China to support our entry to the NSG”.US President Barack Obama, Earnest said, had an opportunity to discuss the issue of India’s NSG membership bid with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their White House meeting earlier this month.“The United States, as you know, strongly supports India’s application to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” Earnest said.“We have made our views known both publicly and privately, and we’ll continue to do so,” Earnest said when asked if the US has reached out to members of the NSG in support of India’s application.At a separate news conference, the State Department reiterated the same views.“As you know, during Prime Minister Modi’s visit, the President welcomed India’s application to join the NSG and reaffirmed that India is ready for membership. We continue to call on the participating governments, the NSG, to support India’s application at the plenary session this week itself,” State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference.“India’s application is something we have routinely talked to other NSG participating members. This is not a new topic of discussion that we’ve had privately with the members,” Kirby said.Last week as well, the US had called on members of the nuclear trading club to support India’s membership.While majority of the elite group members backed India’s membership, it is understood that apart from China, countries like Turkey, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand were not in favour of India’s entry into the NSG.China maintains opposition to India’s entry, arguing that it has not signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, it has been batting for its close ally Pakistan’s entry if NSG extends any exemption for India.Pakistan applied for NSG membership, a week after India submitted its membership application.India has asserted that being a signatory to the NPT was not essential for joining the NSG as there has been a precedent in this regard, citing the case of France.India is seeking membership of NSG to enable it to trade in and export nuclear technology. PTI