Russia is believed to have again solidly backed India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the global nuclear cartel.
The issue came up for discussions when Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who is in Moscow, met top Russian leaders, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
The two countries are understood to have discussed a range of issues, including India’s membership for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), BRICS cooperation, bilateral defence ties and the situation in the Indian sub-continent in the wake of the Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack.
Sources said there was a substantive discussion between the two sides on civil nuclear cooperation and India’s application for membership of the NSG.
India has already become a member of three other export control regimes like the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group with the firm support of countries like Russia and the United States.
However, despite its relentless efforts, India has not yet been admitted to the NSG since China has been stonewalling its bid for membership of the group in which decisions are taken by consensus.
China, which has endorsed Pakistan’s bid to become a member of the NSG, has been insisting that there should be the same criteria for admitting new members to the group.
Sources said China was only trying to scuttle India’s bid for membership of the group by supporting the case of Pakistan, its ‘all-weather’ friend.
Sources said that while India’s non-proliferation record was unimpeachable, the whole world knew that Pakistan was a clandestine proliferator of nuclear technology.