India’s pursuit of membership of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) smacks of old world diplomacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been on an odyssey visiting world capitals and conferring with top diplomats. Foreign Secretary Jaishankar has gone to Seoul to get China on India’s side. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that China in principle had no objection to India’s membership of the NSG. But then China came out with a public snub. Why has India spent so much time and energy on this mission? It is more than likely that in November, Donald Trump will be President of the US and leader of the so called free and democratic world. The thing is that India has secured more or less all benefits of the NSG. Membership is just symbolic. And the political changeover in Washington should not make any difference. India’s diplomatic gamesmanship over membership of the NSG may not have required any special dexterity.
India has already rubbed China the wrong way by getting exercised over Japan causing estrangement between Delhi and Beijing. Japan has offered to sell ballistic missiles to Vietnam. Relations between China and Vietnam sometimes hit a rough patch especially as it extends a hand of deceitful hostility to that. While having tiffs with Washington, Beijing aims at deepening a strategic relationship with it. China is not so dear to India with pinpricks on the Line of Actual Control and its cordiality with Pakistan. India is trying to boost its image through diplomacy. China may only prove inscrutable over the NSG exercise.