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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's foreign secretary on Tuesday told a United States envoy his country has the “credentials” to join a club of nuclear trading nations, signalling Islamabad may apply alongside India and force a showdown in the consensus-based group next month.
Such a move would drag the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) into the long-running tension between India and Pakistan.
Diplomats last year quietly launched a new push to induct India into the NSG — a 48-nation club dedicated to curbing nuclear arms proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that could foster nuclear weapons development.
“Pakistan expressed confidence in its credentials to become full member of the export control regimes, particularly Nuclear Suppliers Group,” the Foreign Ministry's official spokesman said in a tweet.
The comment followed talks on Tuesday in Islamabad between Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Rose Gottemoeller.
The US Embassy in Islamabad declined to comment.
Membership of the NSG would increase India's international clout and provide a vested interest in curbing the world's most dangerous regional arms race, but the prospects are fraught.
The campaign for India membership is seen as carrying the risk of antagonising Pakistan as well as its ally China, which could veto any India application.
China could also insist as a condition of India's membership that Pakistan also be allowed to join, a potential hard sell because of Islamabad's development of new tactical nuclear weapons.
A further complication is that neither India nor Pakistan has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, generally seen as a prerequisite to NSG membership.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group is expected to hold its next meeting in June.
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Comments (41) Closed
May 17, 2016 11:40pm
Turkey can not become a member of EU and Pakistan NSG...
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May 17, 2016 11:41pm
Good Move; seems like NS and Raheel Sharif going good united
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May 17, 2016 11:44pm
It is about time.
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May 17, 2016 11:45pm
Chinese drama by Pakistan.....no credentials compare with india... Pakistan has worst record of non polifration....it sells nuke technology to Libya,north korea.
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May 17, 2016 11:46pm
A nuclear weapon is a weapon, being tactical does not impede Pakisatns entry into the club, that is flawed logic. If anything it strengthens the case to have Pakistan in there because it is a potential KEY supplier of tactical weapons alongside the US and Russia and China. It would be to the NSG advantage if Pakistan were part of the club bound by pre negotiations on sale of such weapons to other key allies Pakistan sees as key allies. After all the same group passed on weapons to Britian and France did it not? so it was OK as long as the group was not created to pass on weapons to allies now that the shoe is on the other foot, all the group is doing is trying to control sale of these weapons to other countries. Pakistan at least should declare itself candidate for entry and crash the door into the group to counter India.
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May 17, 2016 11:48pm
And the India obsession continues. Why does Pakistan not focus on growth and development rather then trying to hold other nations back?
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May 17, 2016 11:49pm
Sure, let's join nuclear suppliers club. We've already had smashing success supplying JF-17s and other state-of-the art weaponry to the rest of the world, it is the natural order of progression.
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May 17, 2016 11:52pm
USA believes Pakistan is resonsible for prolofiration of nuclear technologies to iran, north korea and libya. So nuclear prolifirators are not included in NSG.
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May 18, 2016 12:02am
Pakistan should stop running behind India. It has been going on since 1948. By Doing this Pakistan has gone nowhere. It is time to stop it and concentrate on its own development and strategy.
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May 18, 2016 12:02am
Credentials are that every village in Pakistan will have a nuke
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May 18, 2016 12:06am
@ajay That was then, this is now. You can't keep blaming the Germans for crimes against the jews during the WW 2.
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May 18, 2016 12:06am
Why pakistan is now desperate to join NSG only after US offered NSG membership to India?
Is pakistan's every policy is India-centric??
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May 18, 2016 12:07am
@A Shah why not India do the same?
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May 18, 2016 12:10am
Pakistan wants criteria based approach but not country specific waiver towards NSG membership.
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May 18, 2016 12:10am
@SAEED MASOOD - You have some grudge against Turkey and Pakistan?
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May 18, 2016 12:15am
China has been proliferating nuclear tech to North Korea.India's non-proliferation credentials can never be compared with Pakistan's, as Pakistan has a history of "selling Nuclear technology to states like Libya".
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May 18, 2016 12:16am
@A Shah;
'Why does Pakistan not focus on growth and development rather then trying to hold other nations back?'
Right now our government is developing our province of Panama. As far as holding India back, no need to do that, they have been holding themselves back for 3000 years.
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May 18, 2016 12:18am
@Rik G;
Running behind India would indeed not get Pakistan anywhere because India is not going anywhere.
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May 18, 2016 12:21am
Pak should sign npt
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May 18, 2016 12:23am
The threat of proliferation is from extremists like RSS and Donald Trump.
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May 18, 2016 12:26am
Let India sign NPT if it aspires to become a member of NSG.
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May 18, 2016 12:26am
@A Shah - How does wanting to join NSG become "India obsession"? Clearly obsession is stuck in your mind. Sensible thing would be to encourage all nuclear power countries to join NSG which is an export control regime. NSG is not about getting a prize in a beauty contest.
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May 18, 2016 12:27am
Smart move, it will show duplicity in how India and Pakistan are being treated by NSG.
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May 18, 2016 12:29am
I would rather, let India sign NPT if it wants to join NSG, Pakistan should make a decision based on its own strategic interest rather than joining the club because INDIA wants to do it.
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May 18, 2016 12:31am
Unhealthy competition as it exists in the form of nationalistic element in India and Pakistan should be left, because all nations have an equal right to enjoy the opportunities and develop at their own pace, rather slow and steady rather than abrupt and over
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May 18, 2016 12:41am
Well done Pakistan, you are second to none, keep going & continue arms buildup, the world is already convinced that Pakistan is a very important country, soon the world will admit Pakistan in the nuclear suppliers club. Long Live Pakistan.
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May 18, 2016 01:16am
I believe India and Pakistan both should sign an agreement to stop further proliferation of nuclear technologies. Majority of Indian and Pakistani people are living in poverty. Both country should focus on growth and development for the betterment of their citizen. Pakistan has the same right as India to produce Nuclear proliferation and join NSG. Because of Indian eagerness to divide further Pakistani territory as this happened in past it is necessary for Pakistan to develop nuke technology for the deterrence purposes and to safeguard the country incase attacked by enemy also join nuclear suppliers club.
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May 18, 2016 01:29am
What ever happened 20 years ago its in the past, and it was not a crime to supply other countries technology. Did US not gave help to UK for its nuclear bomb program. If some country doesn't see US eye to eye cant be branded as rouge.
Things have moved on Pakistan have more stringent controls placed on exports unlike someone claiming to be they got the right to join NSG. Like any country we will fight our corner and advise for others is they should do the same.
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May 18, 2016 02:05am
Pakistan should not talk or trade with India until Kashmir issue is resolved. Pakistan
is a nuclear power and world knows about it. Good relations with Afghanistan and Iran are more important then India.
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May 18, 2016 02:05am
Well done , I was expecting something like this
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May 18, 2016 03:29am
love to see who use veto against india.
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May 18, 2016 03:35am
It is time for Pakistan and India to put aside their minor differences and work together. There is far more in common between Pakistan and India than we have with China...we keep harping about the oppression of Kashmiris by India, but close our eyes to Chinese oppression of the Uyghur Muslim population.. the Uyghurs have far less rights than the Kashmiris!
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May 18, 2016 04:21am
@Harmony-1© No, he is just talking reason.
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May 18, 2016 04:51am
It will be win win for both India and Pakistan. In the public view we should oppose each other but at the back ground we should support each other in this regard.
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May 18, 2016 07:41am
Best of luck.
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May 18, 2016 09:11am
@Mustafa R.
comment not make sense
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May 18, 2016 03:22pm
If India and Pakistan both become NSG members then they can sell nukes to each other.
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May 18, 2016 03:56pm
What is wrong if Pakistan becomes NSG member state? If India can get NSG waiver without being signatory to NPT, why can't Pakistan?
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May 18, 2016 09:02pm
Pakistan has been interested in becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) because it has assured the restraint and responsibility in handling nuclear technology. In this cruel game of developing nuclear weapons by India, Pakistan has not indulged in any dubious/clandestine activity and its programme has been developed solely. By this Pakistan has shown the responsibility and maturity that developing a credible nuclear weapons programme through honest and civilian means is possible.
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May 18, 2016 11:16pm
@Mustafa R. Half truth and half myth. Truth about your own country.
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May 19, 2016 09:16am
As for India's membership of the NSG, Washington remains committed to help achieve this goal. But a selective nuclear policy will have far reaching consequences. Not only will this accentuate the asymmetry in strategic capabilities between India and Pakistan and erode nuclear deterrence in South Asia but also risk fuelling a more dangerous regional arms race.
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