Islamabad: Pakistan's intensive diplomatic lobbying, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally writing to 17 prime ministers, prevented India from gaining entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), top Pakistani Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said on Monday.
"Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally wrote letters to 17 prime ministers of different countries on the matter, which is on record," Aziz told media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
The NSG last week failed to reach consensus on India's membership application after several members, led by China, of the international nuclear trade cartel insisted on adhering to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) condition for admission.
The statement came days after Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakriya, during his weekly briefing, said that Pakistan was seeking backing from other countries and refuted claims that it was lobbying against India.
India and Pakistan are the two non-NPT states aspiring for membership of the 48-member international nuclear trade cartel.
China has blocked India’s membership of the NSG, a club of countries controlling access to sensitive nuclear technology, on the grounds that it is not a signatory to the NPT.
Energy-starved India has set for itself an ambitious goal of sourcing 40% of its power from non-fossil sources and is relying heavily on nuclear energy to meet the target.
NSG, at the end of its two-day plenary in Seoul, declared its ‘firm support’ for the ‘full, complete and effective’ implementation of the NPT as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime, ruling out any exception to India.
However, India maintained that there was no contradiction between the NPT and India’s closer engagement with with the NSG.
