Signing NPT should not be mandatory for India's entry into NSG: Canadian Envoy Nadir Patel
"We are also pleased with the steps India has taken till date in complying with all administrative guidelines and support its claim to enter the nuclear group", he said.
In Short
- India's inclusion will be very beneficial for the overall NSG group: Canadian envoy.
- China has repeatedly opposed India's entry into the nuclear group.
- China vetoed India's resolution to designate JeM Chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist.
Canada's High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel believes India's nuclear credentials are sound enough and signing of the NPT or the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty should not be a mandatory requirement for New Delhi's entry into the elite club.
"We feel India's inclusion will be very beneficial for the overall group. We are also pleased with the steps India has taken till date in complying with all administrative guidelines and the statements it has made supporting its own membership. So we are very supportive and look forward to this being resolved as early as possible", Nadir Patel told India Today in an exclusive chat.
Also read | China must not give a political colour to India's aspirations for NSG: S Jaishankar
China has been a major stumbling block so far to India's aspirations for a place into the nuclear group. Although quite a few countries have backed India, Beijing has chosen to stall and not support New Delhi's bid. While Indian and Chinese bureaucrats dealing with disarmament are engaged in talks, India's entry into the elite group has been met with opposition at the Plenary Session in Seoul and at the special session convened in Vienna last year.
INDIA'S ENTRY INTO NSG WILL BE MEANINGFUL
Asked whether India would need to sign the NPT to find its way into the NSG, the Canadian envoy replied, "We have made our position known that while that would be highly a thing of interest, it is not essential for India's membership into the group. We think the steps that India has taken support its membership and New Delhi's entry will be a very meaningful step."
Also read | NSG draft rule may allow India in, but leave Pakistan out, says US think tank
Nadir Patel also hoped that a solution would soon be found to India's UN resolution, seeking to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad Chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. China had put the resolution on technical hold last year and then used its veto on 30th December to block the resolution, which has the support of other 1267 Security Council committee members including Canada. "We are very concerned about some of the issues we are seeing around the world including those here. But these type of matters are being dealt with on multilateral fora. We are hopeful that things will get resolved in a way satisfactory to all parties," said Patel.