Ahead of PM Modi’s US Visit, India Applies for NSG Membership

In the past, China has stood in the way of India’s entry into the group.

US President Barack Obama talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) during a working dinner at the White House. (Photo: Reuters)

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States on 4 June, India has “quietly submitted” a formal application for its entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), according to a report in The Economic Times.

The application was apparently forwarded on 12 May, almost a week before Pakistan could make its case. A “closed-door NSG meet” will be held in Vienna on 9 and 10 June, according to the report. The Prime Minister himself is reaching out to heads-of-states of the “48-member body”, to make a strong case for India, said the report.

The application may have put the Modi government at loggerheads with China, an NSG member that is vouching for Pakistan’s entry into the group, the report added.

India “transmitted the adherence to NSG” document to the International Atomic Energy Agency, kick-starting its application process at the end of April, according to the report.

An aspect of President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to China was to get the ball rolling for India’s entry into the group, among other things, according to the report. The major breakthrough, however, will perhaps come from the Prime Minister’s trip to the US. The capital is relying on Washington to back India’s application at the NSG meet on 9 and 10 June, where it will; be assessed.

There are two immediate agendas on India’s mind, according to the ET report. Firstly, if India wants to meet its climate change agenda of targeting 40% non-fossil fuels in the country’s “energy mix”, India must be a part of the group. Besides, India’s membership in the NSG will automatically mean that business opportunities for India will be more or less stable, regardless of change in governments, the report said.

By nature, the NSG is a closed-door group, which takes decisions only by consensus. The group came into being as a counter to India’s first nuclear test in 1974.

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