Indian Quest for NSG Membership and Pakistan’s Case
Mujahid Hussain
Bahria University Islamabad
Tauqeer Hussain Sargana
International Islamic University, Islamabad
Abstract
The ‘Nuclear Suppliers Group’ is a cartel of like-minded nations working together to form an alliance of countries that strive to uphold non-proliferation norms with that of regulation of nuclear technology and associated material. The cartel is operating since 1975, which was formed in the aftermath of the 1974 Indian nuclear explosion ‘Smiling Buddha’, a glaring violation of ‘atoms for peace program’. Not in line with its manifesto neither in adherence to the non- proliferation regime, the cartel in 2008 has extended a waiver to India to facilitate Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation. This has ignored the trail of Indian breach of the non-proliferation regime with that of a weak history of nuclear safety and security protocols. The diplomatic maneuvers furthered Indian ambitions when in May 2016 New Delhi formally applied for the NSG permanent membership. Pakistan immediately followed the Indian track and within a week submitted its application to join the cartel. This study makes the point that the grant of NSG membership to India while pending Pakistan’s request would be antithetical to the very idea of establishment of the cartel itself. The study concludes that dependent on the strategic environment, convergences, and divergences, NSG member states may shift from one end of the spectrum to the other, therefore, Pakistan must continue its diplomatic flux with respect to its admission into NSG. The study is deductive in nature and has used qualitative research methodology to evaluate the contextual analysis of the ‘Indian quest for NSG membership and Pakistan’s case.
