Indias entry into NSG will

make it legitimate nuclear

power, break India-Pak
nuke balance
Acknowledging that India is inching closer to get membership of the Nuclear
Suppliers Group, Chinese official media today said if New Delhi is admitted into
the elite grouping, nuclear balance between India and Pakistan will be broken.
Stating that Indias entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will shake strategic
balance in South Asia and even cast a cloud over peace and stability in the
entire Asia-Pacific region, an article in the state-run Global Times however said
China could support Indias inclusion in the 48 member nuclear club if it played
by rules.
Written by Fu Xiaoqiang research fellow with the state-run think tank China
Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, the article a second in as many
days by the same daily highlights Chinas strident and vocal opposition to Indias
entry into NSG and concerns that its all weather ally Pakistan will be left behind
because entry into the NSG will make it (India) a legitimate nuclear power.
New Delhi seems to have inched closer to NSG membership after Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi gained backing from the US, Swiss and Mexico in its
bid to join the elite nuclear club earlier this month, the article said mentioning for
the first time Indias progress in getting support from Mexico and Switzerland.
Becoming a member of the NSG, a bloc that governs civilian nuclear trade
worldwide, will grant India global acceptance as a legitimate nuclear power, said
the article titled Beijing could support Indias NSG accession path if it plays by
rules.
A commentary in the same daily on June 14 had said that Indias admission into
NSG would jeopardise Chinas national interest and touch a raw nerve in
Pakistan.

If it joins the group, New Delhi will be able to import civilian nuclear technology
and fuels from the international market more conveniently, while saving its
domestic nuclear materials for military use, said the article in the Global Times, a
tabloid daily which is part of the ruling Communist Party of China group of
publications headed by Peoples Daily.
The major goal for Indias NSG ambition is to obtain an edge over Islamabad in
nuclear capabilities. Once New Delhi gets the membership first, the nuclear
balance between India and Pakistan will be broken, it said.
As a result, Pakistans strategic interests will be threatened, which will in turn
shake the strategic balance in South Asia, and even cast a cloud over peace and
stability in the entire Asia-Pacific region, it said.
The reason why India has scored a big win in garnering support for its NSG
membership from some countries is because Washington has started to treat New
Delhi as part of the US alliance, the write-up said.
It was only several years ago that Modi could not even get a US visa, but now he
has visited the US more often than any other country during his two years in
office, it said.
The US recognised New Delhi as a major defence partner during Modis recent
visit, meaning that the White House has given India the treatment as a US military
ally, it said.
The article said that over the years, the US has been bending the rules to back
Indias nuclear projects.
Against the backdrop of Washingtons accelerated pace of promoting its pivot to
the Asia-Pacific region, it will be highly likely to keep supporting New Delhis
nuclear ambitions, in order to make it a stronger power to contain
China, it said.
The attitude of the US has had and will undoubtedly have an impact on some other
nations. For those countries which also wish to put a finger in the pie of Indias
market, many of them begin to back Indias NSG membership, or at least
not oppose it, the article said in apparent reference to majority of the countries in
the NSG supporting Indias entry.

However, as a country that has signed neither the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) nor the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT), India is not yet qualified for accession into the NSG, it said.
Thats why the bloc is still divided over the case, and countries including New
Zealand, Ireland, Turkey, South Africa and Austria have expressed their firm
objections to Indias membership, it said.
The article made no mention of problems faced by Pakistan in getting into the
NSG due to its past record of proliferating the nuclear technology to Iran and
North Korea, where as India is seeking entry into group based on clean nonproliferation record.
As a crucial defender of the international system against nuclear proliferation,
China does not wish to see the political and legal foundation of global nuclear
security to be challenged by any party who does not abide by rules, the article
said without referring to Beijings own nuclear power cooperation with Islamabad
in supplying a number of nuclear reactors, including two 1100 mw reactors
currently under construction in Karachi.
For those countries that are developing nuclear technology without the acceptance
of the international community, perhaps counting them into the nonproliferation mechanism will better safeguard nuclear security, it said.
But at the same the article said China backs Indias entry if a fair and just principle
is worked out through consensus.
Yet before that, a fair and just principle must be made through common consensus
of all current members of the NSG, rather than the US and Indias reckless pushing
at the cost of rule-breaking.
So far, all NSG members have signed the NPT. So the question is, if any nonsignatory of the treaty wants to join the group, under what condition can it be
accepted? If such a standard is to be made one day, then it will be possible for both
India and Pakistan to become part of the group, it said.
Beijing welcomes New Delhi playing a role as a major power in global
governance, including producing positive effect in a nuclear non-proliferation
organisation, it said.
As long as all NSG members reach a consensus over how a non-NPT member
could join the NSG and India promises to comply with stipulations over the non-

proliferation of nuclear weapons while sticking to its policy of independence

and self-reliance, China could support New Delhis path toward the club, it said.