Some facts about Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)

            NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) is a group of nations controlling the trade in nuclear material, equipments and technology. The Group was formed in 1974 in the wake of nuclear explosion conducted by India in Pokharan in same year. The Group has a set of guidelines as per which the nuclear supplier authorises a transfer of nuclear or nuclear related exports only when it is satisfied that the transfer of such exports would not lead to proliferation of nuclear weapons.

            However, it must be made clear that NSG is not a treaty but a group of countries which was formed with the objective of contributing to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The treaty regulating non proliferation of nuclear weapons is Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which came into force in 1970. India despite being under pressure for becoming a signatory to the Treaty as a non nuclear state has constantly resisted the pressure because India is a country having its own nuclear programme and signing of NPT as a non nuclear state will not be in the interest of the country.

Presently the Group has 48 members which are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United  Kingdom, and United States.

In the last few years India has been trying to make more and more use of nuclear energy for meeting its power requirements. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2008 had approved India specific safety standards after which NSG in the same year also allowed Civil Nuclear Cooperation of India with its member countries. However, despite this, India has been keen to join NSG because it would have provided it a more comprehensive legal foundation for its nuclear programme and also for nuclear exports. Further, it has also been felt that as India increases its international clout, a seat in NSG would have been reflective of and in conformity with that status.

This year, India had made a strong bid for being included in NSG. The meeting of NSG was held in Seoul on 23-24^th June, 2016 but India could not obtain membership of NSG due to opposition from China and some other countries. One of the opposition put forward was India’s not signing of NPT although signing of NPT is not a condition but only a guideline. However, this stand of China deferred the Indian membership of NSG.