New Delhi: A top American diplomat today expressed "regret" that his government was unsuccessful in making India a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at its plenary in Seoul last week.
US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Tom Shannon also said that “the US is committed to ensuring India's entry into the NSG”.
"We are committed to having India join the Nuclear Suppliers Group. We believe that through the kind of work we have done, the civil nuclear agreement, the way India conducted itself, it is worthy of this," Shannon said while describing India a “responsible and important player in the sphere of nuclear non-proliferation”.
"We regret, in Seoul we and India, were unable to open space necessary to allow India to move into the NSG at this moment," Shannon added.
In an apparent reference to China opposing India's NSG bid, the official said one country can break consensus in a consensus-based organisation while asserting that such member should be held accountable.
"We understand that in a consensus-based organisation, one country can break consensus. But in order to do so it must be accountable, not isolated," he said.
Last week, India had failed in its bid in getting entry into the elite atomic trading bloc in the face of strong China-led opposition.
He said both countries will have to work to ensure that India's bid is successful next time the issue is taken up by the NSG.
"I think what we need to do going forward is, for both of us India and the US, sit down and take a call on what happened in Seoul, take a close look at the diplomatic process which is significant and see what more we can do to ensure that next time we are successful,” the diplomat said.
Shannon, who met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar earlier in the day, said India's recent entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) highlighted that the country is a "responsible and important player in the road to non-proliferation."
‘US wants India to play major role in Indian Ocean’
Calling India an "anchor of stability" in the Asia Pacifc region, the diplomat said “what China was doing in South China Sea is madness and it wants New Delhi to play a major role in the Indian Ocean”.
During an interactive session at the Foreign Service Institute, he also said managing the rise of China was a major challenge and that the US wants to work with India to have a strong and comprehensive presence in the Indian Ocean.
When asked whether he thinks India will ratify the Paris climate deal before Obama administration's tenure got over and, at the same time, it will become a member of the NSG, he said "I hope so".
He said India has given a commitment to ratify the climate deal.
Shannon said the US actively supports India's entry into Australia Group as well as Wassenaar arrangement, which are key export control regimes.
Holding that managing rise of China was a challenge, Shannon said through South China Sea, Beijing plans to broaden it's presence in the Indian Ocean.
"...the big challenge is how we manage rise of China," he said while explaining China's growing assertiveness in South China Sea including laying of air strips and positioning military aircraft.
At the same time, he added India is US' natural partner and America's intention was to work with it to have a strong comprehensive presence in the strategic Indian Ocean region.
"We are looking for ways in which we can work with others in the region to watch China, to ensure it behaves in a responsible fashion. Behaves in a fashion which is bound and constrained by commitment to rules and regulations," the diplomat said, adding India could be more "ambitious" in pursuing its strategic goals.
He said the US hoped that it will be able to work with China and convince it that benefit lies in collaboration and developing a rule-based international order on the issue of South China Sea.
‘US' relations with India irreversible’
On the Indo-US defence and economic ties, Shannon said cooperation in both the areas was expanding rapidly, adding US' relations with India are irreversible and whoever comes to power after the Presidential polls will continue to strengthen the relationship.
Shannon said India and US will continue to work together to deal with challenges of terrorism and climate change.
"We welcome India's offer to host a summit on countering weapons of mass destruction and terror in 2018," he said.
To a question on US interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the US official said, those were done considering the security situation.
Giving example of growing bilateral trade ties, he said the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation expects to provide USD 170 million in finance to support low cost wireless broadband service across India. He said the project will provide fix wireless internet access to 6.5 million people in India.
With PTI Inputs
