China leads opposition to India's NSG bid; most nations support

NEW DELHI: China and a handful of countries are trying to stop India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group as a key NSG meeting got underway in Vienna on Thursday to decide the agenda of its plenary meet in Seoul on June 23-24. The Vienna meeting will set the agenda for the NSG plenary that includes discussion of India’s May 12 application to get entry into the club which gave it a clean waiver in 2008.

PM Modi could meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkhent on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on June 23-24 that coincides with the NSG plenary meet in Seoul. Sources from Vienna told ET that China publicly opposed India’s bid and took a hard line at the Vienna meet where the technical assessment of the Indian application got underway.

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Few European countries tacitly supported by Beijing posed some difficult questions. While Austria, New Zealand, Argentina and Turkey don’t have strong reservations against India’s nonproliferation record, they indicated discomfiture with granting a second exception to make India an NSG member.