Modi must apologise for misleading country over NSG membership: Congress

The Congress on Monday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what it said was "misleading the country" that the recent meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) had India's membership on the agenda.

The recent Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting was held in Vienna.

"This government must apologise for misleading the country that the recent meeting of the NSG had India's membership on the agenda. This has not even been discussed. It is not there on the agenda," said senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma.

"They are saying everything has been done, but the truth is it was not even discussed," he added.

The Congress leader also reminded that the Indo-US nuclear cooperation was started by Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

"After the 123 Agreement, it was agreed that India will be invited to join the NSG. We were aware of the pitfalls and the challenges. We had enlisted the support of the large number of countries but we knew China had to be brought on board," said Sharma.

"But the countries whih were brought on board by (then Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh and the UPA government included Japan, South Korea, Canada, Germany, United States, Russia, UK, France, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil," he added.

Sharma said: "They all supported India's membership to the NSG. They have made list of four nations and sought support from them. They are not doing anything new. The opposition is same from the northern neighbour, China.

On the issue of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Sharma said: "MCTR is still a work in progress. Application was filed during our time. India should and must get the membership of the NSG.

"But Prime Minister and his inadequately informed party president Amit Shah should not mislead the people by continuously making false and tall claims," he added.

--IANS

sid/tsb