China may not oppose waiver

Signalling that it may not be an obstacle to a waiver to India to be considered by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), China today said it has always played a “positive” role at the meetings of the 45-nation grouping.

It believes all countries have the right to develop nuclear energy while observing the obligations of the non-proliferation regime, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told reporters here.

The group is due to meet on September 4-5 in Vienna to discuss a waiver to India to allow it to resume nuclear commerce with the international community after a gap of 34 years. She expressed hope that the NSG would be able to “strike a balance between nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use” of atomic energy.

China expects the “relevant countries” would be able to “safeguard the effectiveness of the international non-proliferation regime,” Jiang said without specifically naming India and the US in this context.

Her remarks came a day after the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party of China, published an opinion piece describing the India-US nuclear deal “a major blow to the international non-proliferation regime”.