If China disapproves of India’s NSG bid, here’s the Plan B

China raised a red flag on India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), saying NSG members will arrive at a consensus on admitting countries that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Even though India’s application for NSG was accepted, making the country eligible for discussion at Seoul, China blocked India's case.

However, 29 out of 48 countries are in favour of India’s entry into NSG and even the US is urging doubting countries to pass India’s application.

READ ALSO: China will not talk about India's NSG membership in Seoul meeting

In this backdrop, Argentina, the current chair of the NSG, and few countries has been discussing a Plan B, informally.

Reportedly, these countries are working to set-up a time-bound working group for non-NPT countries to join the grouping.

ET reported the argument is that such an arrangement would allow the matter to at least come up on the agenda in Seoul. And from an Indian standpoint give it a definite timeframe.

This is termed as 'peeling the onion' strategy, which is targeting possible naysayers through its key backers. So if it leaned on US to bring countries like Mexico on board, it had Germany work on Switzerland and Australia on New Zealand.

READ ALSO: US urges non-supporting countries to back India’s NSG bid

Gradually, numbers have dwindled with only a few doubtful cases. India's calculations hinge on peeling the onion in a way that China remains the last country standing.