India raises contentious NSG, Masood Azhar issues with Chinese foreign minister

NEW DELHI: India has restarted its diplomatic initiative to gain membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). On Saturday, the Chinese foreign minister was given a detailed explanation.Last week, India presented suggestions on participation by non-NPT countries in the NSG to special envoy Rafael Mariano Grossi.After India failed to enter the NSG, the global nuclear body appointed a special envoy to consult members on India's bid. Grossi, a former NSG chairman, will have to consider the question China left hanging at the Seoul plenary meet: should an applicant be a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)?While India is not in the room for the discussions because it is not a member of NSG, it has put forward certain inputs for members (called participating governments) and the discussions to be piloted by Grossi.India's case is not unique in the manner that China made it appear during the Seoul plenary. After all, in 2008, it was the same China and 47 other countries that granted India a waiver for nuclear commerce. In addition, France, Argentina and Brazil had all joined NSG before they became NPT members.Most importantly, India and others have made the point that NSG is not a treaty implementation body, but a group of nuclear suppliers keen on ensuring that their stuff does not fall into the wrong hands.India says the focus within NSG has been on the "implementation" of NPT. So, for a non-NPT country, that would mean checking off some markers or criteria - whether it complies with the provisions of NPT, particularly Articles I, III(2), IV and VI, and if it is reflected in policy commitments and domestic legislation; whether it abides by NPT rules in a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. The state in question, India says, should have a record of non-proliferation and disarmament that is in adherence to the NPT.China's insistence on NPT compliance misses the fact that NSG guidelines themselves have set out five factors (distinct from criteria, though frankly that is just splitting hairs) for participation laid out in INFCIRC/539/rev6 (rules that govern NSG behaviour). These include ability to supply items covered by annexes to parts 1 and 2 of NSG guidelines; adherence to guidelines, presence of a legally based domestic export control system and supporting international non-proliferation efforts. One of the factors is about "adherence" to NPT or an "equivalent" non-proliferation agreement.This has been cited by China as demanding NPT signature. India argues adherence is not the same as a signature. India has been an implementer of the NPT without being a signatory, and has never been a proliferater. Unlike China, which has long been a proliferater - to Pakistan and North Korea - before it entered NSG.The Indian stand was recently helped by Mexico, an ardent NPT member. In an interview, top disarmament diplomat Joel Hernandez Garcia said getting everybody to sign the NPT was not the aim of the NSG, which is a "non-proliferation regime", but "not a disarmament forum". "The NSG should rather look into the adherence of applicants to its guidelines, which establish a member's obligations on exports controls. We must bear in mind that NSG is a group of suppliers-exporters," he said.In a nutshell, that's pretty much what India is saying in its lobbying efforts with other countries. The NSG could consider a raft of additional "criteria" for aspiring members - separation of civil and military nuclear facilities,stopping nuclear testing and negotiating an FMCT, etc.In the coming weeks, India will hold talks with China at a technical level on these issues. Separately, NSG members who had procedural issues with India’s membership will discuss these issues with the NSG envoy, who is expected to build a consensus, if another plenary is called before the end of the year.