China in touch with Russia over India’s NSG bid, says official

Beijing, June 6 : China on Tuesday said it is in touch with Russia over India’s entry into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), but made it clear that its position on the issue remained “unchanged”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s comments came a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India is engaging with Moscow and making efforts to convince Beijing on the issue. “China and other members, including Russia, maintained close communication and we also maintain that we should act in accordance with the principles of the NSG,” Hua told the media. The application for accession by non-NPT countries is a multi-lateral question and should be addressed on the basis of consensus of the NSG members, Hua said when asked for reaction to Swaraj’s comments. “We have stressed our position many times on this issue. Our position remains unchanged,” Hua said, reiterating China’s two-step approach–first to reach a non-discriminatory resolution that applies to all non-NPT countries and then to discuss the application to non-NPT countries.