Sure India will get NSG membership: V.K. Singh

Though India's bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was stalled by China last year, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence New Delhi's bid will succeed eventually.

"We are sure that with our record and credentials, we will be taken as a member as per the procedures within this particular group," Singh said in reponse to a question at a press conference organised by the External Affairs Ministry here.

"We are engaging everybody equally to ensure that our concerns, our credentials, our way that we have taken our various issues forward are understood by everybody," he added.

At the NSG plenary in Seoul in June last year, China blocked India's membership bid on the ground that for a country to be a member of the 48-nation bloc, it has to be a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Singh said that since India was not a member of the NSG, it cannot comment on internal discussions within the group.

"We do understand that a meeting took place in Vienna on November 11, 2016, where India's membership was discussed," he said.

"Consultations on the issue are ongoing with the group including our engagement with China on this issue."

--IANS

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