For NSG bid, India will not sign NPT: Sushma Swaraj

Asserting that China had created "procedural hurdles" for India in getting membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the government today said it was engaging with its neighbour to iron out differences while expressing hope that the issues would be resolved.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also said India will not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), adding that New Delhi had managed to get a waiver in 2008 without signing the treaty.

Responding to supplementary during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, she said China had questioned how a non-signatory to NPT could become a member of the NSG.

"But we are engaging with it. If someone says 'No' for once, it does not mean he won't agree at all ... like GST...almost all parties have agreed to it, but Congress has not.

That does not mean it will never agree (to the GST bill)," Swaraj said amidst Opposition protests over attacks against Dalits in Gujarat, including sloganeering from the Well.

The minister rejected suggestions that India had created a lot of "hype" ahead of the NSG meet in Seoul. "We have been taught to make serious efforts to achieve things...no hype was created when we submitted our application for the membership of NSG on May 12. We did it with low fanfare," she said.

Swaraj also scoffed at suggestions by Supriya Sule (NCP) that the denial of NSG membership to India was a 'huge diplomatic snub' as it came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mexico and Switzerland.

• NSG
• Nuclear Suppliers Group
• Non Proliferation Treaty
• #NPT