Country That Blocked India's Nuke Club NSG Bid Must Be Held Accountable: US

New Delhi: A week after India's hopes for entry into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) suffered a setback as the meeting in Seoul last week ended with no decision on India amid unrelenting opposition from China, the US said that one country can break consensus in the atomic trading bloc and insisted 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 (held) accountable not isolated," said US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Tom Shannon expressing "regret" that Washington was unsuccessful in making India a member of the nuke bloc.

"We regret, in Seoul we and India, were unable to open space necessary to allow India to move into the NSG at this moment," he said.

Calling India an "anchor of stability" in the Asia Pacifc region, Mr Shannon also 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.

Mr Shannon 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.

Describing India a responsible and important player in the sphere of nuclear non-proliferation, he said, "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."

US would continue to work for India's inclusion into the nuke club, he said.

Mr Shannon, who met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar yesterday, said India's entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) recently highlighted that the country is a
"responsible and important player in the road to non-proliferation".