Believe India is ready, will continue to work for NSG membership bid: US

The US said it will continue to work “constructively” with New Delhi and other countries for India’s entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group, a senior US official said on Friday.

The US said it will continue to work “constructively” with New Delhi and other countries for India’s entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group, a senior US official said on Friday.

US President Barack Obama with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane on September 8, 2016. (AFP Photo)

“We continue, and will be, continued to work constructively with India and with members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on India’s accession in the months ahead,” state department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said.

Read | Resistance to India joining nuclear suppliers group softens, but China defiant

However, she did not respond to questions on the talks the US is having with China on this issue. China is the only major country that has opposed India’s membership.

“On the particular conversations on China, because I know you’re going to come back and ask, I have nothing to read out on that,” she told reporters.

“We’ve been very clear since 2010, the US has made clear our support for India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes. We continue to believe India is ready for the NSG,” she said.

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“In the last meeting, the NSG participating governments did not reach a consensus decision to admit any new applicant into the group. We were disappointed in the outcome,” she said, adding that decisions within NSG are taken with consensus.

“Discussions within that group are confidential within that group. But the US remains committed. We believe India is ready for full membership. We will work towards that goal,” Trudeau said.

The US has been playing a lead role in supporting India’s bid in the 48-member elite group. China had scuttled New Delhi’s bid at the Plenary Session of NSG in June.