Both India and Pakistan,
it seems will have to wait for some more time to gain membership of the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG), as the 26th plenary meeting of the group held in Seoul,
South Korea concluded today without any discussion on their applications.
\
As of now it appears that
the membership application of both countries will not be considered for
discussion unless they sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is the
building block of the NSG.
Chaired by Ambassador
Song Young-wan of the Republic of Korea, the NSG held discussions on the issue
of "Technical, Legal and Political Aspects of the Participation of non-NPT
States in the NSG" and decided to continue its discussion on the matter.
The group stated that
Switzerland will assume the Chairmanship of the NSG from 2017 to 2018 and
welcomed Switzerland's plans to host the next Plenary.
The Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Yun Byung-se, welcomed the
participating governments and reaffirmed his country's support for all NSG
activities.
The South Korea's
Foreign Minister also highlighted the importance of the thorough implementation
of UNSCR 2270 (2016) for the resolution of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) nuclear issue and asked the NSG to continue its efforts to cut off
the DPRK's access to its nuclear program's supply chain.
Within the framework
of the NSG's mandate, the group expressed its concerns regarding continued
global proliferation activities and reaffirmed its determination to continue to
cooperate closely in order to deter the transfer of controlled items or
technology that could contribute to nuclear weapons.
The participating
governments also reiterated their firm support for effective implementation of
the NPT as the cornerstone of the
international non-proliferation regime.
Deploring the nuclear
test conducted on 6 January 2016 by the DPRK, the Participating Governments
reconfirmed their commitment to UNSCRs 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013),
2094 (2013) and 2270 (2016) which strongly condemned the DPRK's challenge to
the nuclear non-proliferation regime and underlined that export of all
controlled items within the NSG to the DPRK is prohibited.
The NSG welcomed the
announcement on 16 January 2016 of the Implementation Day of the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Following up on the
Extraordinary Plenary held on 21 January and 26 April this year, the NSG
expressed interest in continuing to be briefed by the Procurement Working Group
coordinator on the procurement channel established under the JCPOA and UNSCR
2231 (2015) as appropriate.
Participating
governments called upon all states to exercise vigilance and to ensure
effective implementation of all UNSCRs relevant the purpose of NSG.
The meeting also
discussed on technical issues important to the implementation of the control
lists by exchanging views and agreeing on a number of proposals to clarify and
update the NSG control lists and guidelines to keep pace with the fast-paced
nuclear industry.
The group appreciated
the growing number of states that have harmonized their national export control
systems with the NSG guidelines and control lists.
Options for enhancing
outreach such as dedicated briefings and meetings with interested non-NSG
partners were also discussed.
The meeting agreed
upon shared information on all aspects of the 2008 Statement on Civil Nuclear
Cooperation with India and discussed the NSG relationship with India.
The NSG Plenary
invited all nuclear supplier states to express their responsible approach to
nuclear exports by adhering to the NSG Guidelines.
Representative
Image
Source:
ANI
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