New Delhi: After failing to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an elite club of 48 countries, India on Monday joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as a full member, which will be mutually beneficial to enhance global non-proliferation norms. Marking India’s first entry into any multilateral export control regime, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar signed the instrument of accession to MTCR in the presence of France’s Ambassador-designate Alexandre Ziegler, The Netherlands’ Ambassador Alphonsus Stoelinga and Luxembourg’s Chargé d’Affaires Laure Huberty.

“India has joined the MTCR this morning…India’s entry into the regime as its thirty-fifth member would be mutually beneficial in the furtherance of international non-proliferation objectives,” External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. “India would like to thank each of the thirty-four MTCR Partners for their support for India’s membership. We would also like to thank Ambassador Pieter de Klerk of The Netherlands and Mr Robert Steinmetz of Luxembourg co-Chairs of the MTCR,” the statement said. Significantly, China is not a member of MTCR.

India deserves to be in NSG: US envoy

New Delhi: The US is ‘disappointed’ that India was not admitted to NSG during its recent plenary in Seoul, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said on Monday but asserted that it will continue to work with all the members of 48-nation grouping on India’s accession in the months ahead. Referring to Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation, he said the two sides have moved forward on a 15-year project to build six Westinghouse reactors producing power for some 60 million people. “This is a deal that had been pending for 10 years, and we were pleased to see it move even closer to fruition,” he said, while addressing the Atlantic Council US-India Trade Initiative workshop here. PTI

China continues to sing differently on NSG

Beijing: Days after India blamed ‘one country’ for blocking its entry into NSG, China on Monday said ‘many countries’ had expressed their views on the accession of non-NPT countries into the nuclear trading club as it harped on the need for forging consensus over the issue. “As we have learnt, the plenary meeting issued a news release that the meeting held discussions on technical legal and political issues regarding the accession of non-NPT members and agreed to continue with such discussions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told media briefing. PTI

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