India is trying hard to get NSG membership, holds substantial talks with China, yet again
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India said it had held "substantive" talks with China on Tuesday on its bid to become a fully fledged member of the
Yet his bid to win accession to the 48-member group that was founded in response to India's first atomic weapons test in 1974 has so far failed to win over strategic rival Beijing, which enjoys a de facto veto because the group operates by consensus.
India's foreign ministry said in a statement that its chief nuclear negotiator,
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The talks, agreed earlier by the two countries' foreign ministers, covered issues of mutual interest in the areas of disarmament and non-proliferation, and focused on India's bid to join the NSG.
"The discussions were candid, pragmatic and substantive," the Indian statement said, adding that further talks would be held.
China also issued a statement on the talks, saying both sides agreed to exchange views on the NSG issue and that existing members needed to have further talks on how to deal with countries that are not signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The treaty recognizes the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - as nuclear weapons powers but not others.
India has ruled out signing the NPT but argues that its track record of non-proliferation should entitle it to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group. India was granted an NSG waiver in 2008 that allows it to engage in nuclear commerce, but deprives it of a vote in the organization’s decision making.
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Backers of India's NSG bid, which include the United States, hope that a deal can still be reached despite a setback at the group's annual meeting in Seoul in June. Modi will host Advertisement
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