The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said India has raised all issues of concerns with China during the ongoing official level talks between the two countries over its Nuclear Supplier's Group (NSG) membership.

The two countries on Tuesday held the fifth round of the India-China Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Dialogue in Beijing. The dialogue was established to work out a mechanism for consensus over the issue of new NSG membership for countries like India that are not signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). China has been blocking India's membership on the grounds that India has not signed NPT which is an essential requirement for NSG membership.

The meeting on Tuesday saw two sides “exchanging views on various topics of mutual interest, including, developments related to disarmament and non-proliferation at multilateral forums, nuclear issues, role of science and technology in the context of international security and disarmament as well as outer space. Both sides underlined the importance of the bilateral dialogue as an important mechanism between the two countries for consultations on important issues,” the Indian embassy in Beijing said in a statement.

Foreign Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is expected to raise this raise again with her counterpart when she visits China for the FM meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from April 21-24. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Chinese Qingdao in June for the SCO summit. Swaraj's visit also comes in the backdrop of efforts being made by India and China to move forward after last year's military stand-off in Doklam, which still remains an area of monitoring and strategic significance for New Delhi amidst China building infrastructure for its troops there.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Friday, 13 April 2018 | PNS | New Delhi