Islamabad: Pakistan is 'lobbying' in all member countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) over India's efforts to join the 48-member exclusive club.
While India, backed by US and Switzerland, is pushing to join the NSG club, Pakistan's adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, told the Senate that Pakistan’s “efforts towards non-discriminatory approach will pay off”.
Both countries have applied for membership to the NSG, which would enable them to participate in nuclear commerce.
Pakistani senators had expressed concern over the “growing collusion between India and the US” as they were worried that the NSG member states would positively consider India’s request to join it.
Pakistan Muslim League(Q) Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Senate defence committee, said NSG member states would be considering New Delhi’s request to join the group.
Sayed said that if India became a member of the NSG it would be able to block Pakistan’s entry into the group, alleging that Pakistan's diplomacy has failed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited Afghanistan and Iran, which are immediate neighbours to Pakistan. “We have alienated Iran and Afghanistan and the two countries are now improving their economic ties with India,” said Sayed.
“This is our diplomatic failure. The Indians are encircling us from all sides. Even our immediate neighbours, like Afghanistan and Iran, have gone to India. It’s a result of our failed diplomacy and traditionally passive foreign policy,” Sayed added.
Sayed also called for "cohesion" within the country, stating that India should not be in a position to take advantage of the situation in Pakistan.
However, Aziz asserted that Pakistan's scientists and experts were monitoring and evaluating the strategic threats that Indian nuclear doctrine posed to national security.
He also added that despite limited resources, Pakistan had developed a robust nuclear deterrent system.
Aziz said that Pakistan was planning to highlight the “dangerous implications” of India’s plan to nuclearise the Indian Ocean.
He also added that Pakistan was considering the option of moving a resolution in the UN General Assembly, seeking to declare the Indian Ocean nuclear-free.
