Jaishankar visited China to seek support on NSG membership

New Delhi: In a bid to seek China’s support on the application of National Supplier Group (NSG) membership, Foreign secretary S Jaishankar visited the counterpart nation on June 16-17 last.

The NSG meeting will be held in Seoul on June 24 next and in a major development for India, Russian president Vladimir Putin has also hinted for Russia’s support on the same bid.

“The foreign secretary was in China from June 16-17 for bilateral consultation with the Chinese counterpart,” confirmed external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swaroop.

• This is the second time that Jaishankar has raised India's NSG bid with China.
• Last discussion was held in May on the sidelines of President Pranab Mukherjee's China visit.
• Jaishankar's meeting with Chinese leaders also comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, when he is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
• China has been opposing India's entry into the elite nuclear group on the grounds that it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• China has been backing Pakistan in this case.
• India has got the backing of most countries for admission to the NSG, including the US, Britain, Italy, Mexico and Switzerland.