NSG membership: India rebuffs Pakistan's claim

New Delhi: Taking a strong exception to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz’s statement, wherein he said the Pakistan government's 'active and successful foreign policy' has blocked India's entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh has said, “New Delhi is pursuing its own policy and is not concerned with what Islamabad is saying”. During a debate in the Senate on an adjournment motion regarding the agreement signed by India, Iran and Afghanistan for development of the Chabahar Port, Aziz had on Monday said that Pakistan has been successful in preventing India from gaining access to the NSG. "I am hopeful that whenever it happens, we will both join it together and India will not be able to join the NSG alone," the Dawn quoted Aziz as saying. He also said that he had recently approached many countries, including Russia, Mexico, South Korea and New Zealand, to gain their support on Islamabad's viewpoint that there should be a criteria-based approach while deciding about inclusion of any country to the NSG.

Aziz had earlier said that Islamabad's credentials for the NSG membership are stronger than New Delhi if the 48-nation cartel agrees to form uniform criteria for non-NPT states. The NSG is a 48-nation club dedicated to curbing nuclear arms proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that could foster nuclear weapons development