India's inclusion in the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) will disturb the nuclear balance in South Asia and prove to be a major deterrent for peace and stability in the entire Asia Pacific region, the latest article in the Global Times said. This is a second article in as many days by the state-owned newspaper on India's bid for NSG inclusion.     

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"The major goal for India's 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," the article stated.  

At the same time, the article accepted that India is inching closer to NSG after gaining support from the US, Mexico, and Switzerland. It said that Beijing may back India's inclusion in the NSG if it "played by the rules".

However, the article also reiterated China's tough stand that India being a non-signatory to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a major hindrance to its NSG ambition.

"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," the newspaper said, mentioning the names of countries that supported China's stance. "That's 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 India's membership."

China has categorically stated that if a Non-NPT signatory like India is included in the 48 member nuclear club, then Pakistan must also be included. Like India, Pakistan has not signed the NPT.    

India's fate regarding NSG membership will be decided in a plenary meeting that is expected to be held on June 20 in Seoul, South Korea. Experts argue that even if its membership bid is rejected at the meeting in Seoul, India's inclusion in the elite nuclear club is just a matter of time.

Experts pointed out that India's membership is supported by a very powerful bloc and that the opposing bloc led by China will have to soften its stance sooner or later.

India's Prime Minister, Narendar Modi, is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week at Tashkent on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.  Modi is likely to urge the Chinese President to support India's NSG membership.      

TagsIndia, china, Nuclear Supplier Group, India and Pakistan, NSG