A path ahead for India to be NSG member by year end: US

TIL Desk/World/Washington-The US today said that there is “a path forward” for India to become a full member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group by the end of the year, hours after the group’s plenary meeting ended in Seoul with no decision on India’s membership in face of strong China-led opposition.

“We are confident that we have got a path forward by the end of this year,” a top Obama administration official said. “It needs some work. But we are confident that India would be a full member of the (NSG) regime by the end of the year,” the official told on condition of anonymity. Refusing to divulge the discussions and opposition to India s membership within the 48-member grouping, the official said details of the internal deliberations are confidential.

But the US strongly believes in India’s membership in the NSG and the Obama Administration has “worked closely” with New Delhi and other countries on this issues, the official said. Without going into details of deliberations, the official referred to a similar discussion within the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to which India was inducted early this month after months of discussions within its member countries.