South Africa tour of India 2019
Without NPT no Entry for India in the NSG, Says China
China who has been long opposing India's entry into the NSG group has yet again in a press conference said that India must sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to gain entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
India had applied for membership of the NSG back in May 2016. Despite receiving an overwhelming response from the 48 member NSG including the US and Russia, China has opposed it at all times. This is also one of the key reason for the tensions in Sino-Indian ties.
China, France, Russia, Britain, and the US – the permanent members of the UNSC also known as P5 countries met on Thursday to discuss issues related to nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Briefing the media on the outcome of the conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang Thursday said, “We will uphold the NPT mechanism. We underscore its importance as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation system and also an important component of international security”. While responding to the question on India's candidacy for the NSG he further said, "I don't want to mislead you. China's position has not changed. We call on all members that are not part of the treaty to join NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state as soon as possible".
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