India, China hold 'substantive and constructive' talks on NSG membership

New Delhi: India on Monday continued its discussions with China over the issue of its membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which Beijing has been stalling. [caption id=“attachment_3081944” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Sources in New Delhi said Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security) in the Ministry of External Affairs, held talks with Wang Qun, Director General in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Beijing over the issue of India’s membership in the NSG. Wang leads Chinese delegations in NSG deliberations. The sources said the talks were substantive and constructive and the engagement would continue according to the directive of the leadership of both countries. At the NSG plenary in Seoul in June, China had blocked India’s membership on the ground that for a country to become a member of the 48-nation bloc, it has to be a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). On 13 September, Gill and Wang started their discussions on the issue in New Delhi.