NEW DELHI: 

While India is likely to negotiate hard for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at its ongoing meeting, New Delhi is unlikely to succeed, experts said on Friday.



The NSG is the primary global nuclear exports control body, with 48 member states. Membership provides access to cutting-edge technology and global clout.



“India wishes to be a decision-maker on the nuclear stage, and becoming a member of the NSG… would be a major step in this direction,” said Sharad Joshi, assistant professor of non-proliferation and terrorism studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California.

India’s membership campaign “demonstrates its quest for great-power status,” Joshi added.



But for a country to be admitted, all members of the group must agree, and India’s biggest detractor is NSG member China.



India has lost a war to China, and they continue to wrestle for regional dominance. More importantly, China is a political and military ally to India’s arch-enemy Pakistan.



“China thinks India’s entry will permanently shut the door on Pakistan ever getting membership of the NSG,” said Ashok Behuria, coordinator of the South Asia Center at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyzes.



Beijing also argues that since India signed a civilian nuclear agreement with the US more than a decade ago, it already has the same benefits as NSG members: Access to technology, and the blessing to sell it to other nations. India’s counterargument is that NSG membership is the next logical step.



The Chinese “would have their pound of flesh before they assent to India’s NSG membership,” said Behuria.

Beijing “believes in give and take, and one doesn’t know if there are any backroom negotiations on for this,” he added.



But Joshi said: “Given China’s reluctance to see India in the NSG, especially not without Beijing’s close ally Islamabad, I would be surprised if it votes in favor of New Delhi.”