India, China Hold Talks on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

India and China held a fresh round of arms control consultations in New Delhi. The talks covered issues of mutual interest in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — A Chinese delegation led by Wang Qun, Director General of the Arms Control Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, held talks with an Indian delegation led by Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security) in the Ministry of External Affairs. The two sides exchanged views on common concerns in this field.

As agreed by the External Affairs Minister and the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in their meeting last month, the two sides focused in particular on an issue of priority for India – membership of the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG).

China shared with India the recent developments regarding the question of non-NPT state’s participation in the Nuclear Supplier Group since it is an issue of major concern to India. China listened to and had inputs from India on India’s bid for NSG membership and indicated that it will bring such views and inputs back to the Group for its considerations.

The two sides recognized that the question of the non-NPT state’s participation is in essence a multilateral issue, and can only be subjected to multilateral solution by the Group.

China wishes to see early commencement of an open and transparent inter-governmental process to undertake, in accordance with the mandate adopted by the NSG at its Seoul Plenary meeting, a comprehensive and through study on the issue of the non-NPT state’s participation in the NSG in various aspects, a statement from the Chinese Embassy said on Tuesday.

India and China also discussed issues related to cyber security and the work of the Conference on Disarmament.

The discussions were candid, pragmatic and substantive. The two sides expressed the wish to intensify their exchanges on the relevant issues. India and China also agreed to hold the next round of consultations in China in due course, to be decided through diplomatic channels.