Pakistan rejects Grossi's new draft proposal for NSG membership

The Pakistan Foreign Office has rejected the Grossi formula for accepting new members into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as 'discriminatory' and unhelpful for advancing global non-proliferation objectives.

"This would be clearly discriminatory and would contribute nothing in terms of furthering the non-proliferation objectives of the NSG," The Dawn quoted Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria as saying.

According to some media reports, former NSG chairman Rafael Mariano Grossi had prepared a two-page document, explaining how a non-NPT state, like India and Pakistan, could join the group.

He was appointed as a facilitator for discussions among the NSG members after Seoul plenary meeting of the 48-nation nuclear trade cartel ended in a stalemate over membership applications from India and Pakistan. The deadlock persisted at the extraordinary plenary held in Vienna last month.

This month he submitted a two-page revised document containing a nine-point proposal on considering the applications of India and Pakistan, both of whom are non-NPT countries.

According to reports, to prevent India from blocking Pakistan from joining the NPT, Grossi's draft note proposes that "one non-NPT member state should reach an understanding not to block consensus on membership for another non-NPT member state".

Zakaria said that Pakistan continues to emphasise the imperative for a non-discriminatory criteria-based approach for the NSG membership of non-NPT states in a non-discriminatory manner.

The spokesman reminded the NSG members of "the heavy responsibility" they bore with respect to admission of non-NPT states.

"It is important for the credibility of the NSG and the future of the non-proliferation regime that the NSG be seen as a rule-based organisation rather than a grouping which is driven by commercial and political considerations that trump its non-proliferation objectives," he maintained.