NEW DELHI: The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) kept on hold India’s request for membership on Friday after several countries led by China refused to adjust rules that require New Delhi to first sign a global arms control pact.

A disappointed India said, in an unusual ly sharp but veiled reference to China, that one country persistently created “procedural hurdles”, a byword for Beijing’s insistence New Delhi sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

New Delhi had gone to Seoul without any certainty of victory. It had hoped intense lobbying, which included cross-continent diplomatic campaigns by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a last-minute meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, would help deal with the procedural necessities for a non-NPT member’s entry into the NSG.

But it was clear on Friday that the Chinese opposition had encouraged six others to also raise procedural points about India’s entry into the grouping that controls access to nuclear materials and technology. “We understand that despite procedural hurdles persistently raised by one country, a threehour-long discussion took place last night on the issue of future participation in the NSG,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

“The NSG plenary in Seoul earlier in the day decided against granting India membership of the grouping immediately and said it will continue to have discussions on participation of countries which have not signed the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty.”

China is leading opposition to a push by the United States to bring India into the NSG. Beijing’s all-weather ally, Pakistan, which hasn’t signed the NPT either, is also seeking membership.