Pakistan rejects Grossi's new draft proposal for NSG membership

Islamabad: The Pakistan Foreign Office has rejected the Grossi formula for accepting new members into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as `discriminatory` and unhelpful for advancing global non-proliferation objectives.

"This would be clearly discriminatory and would contribute nothing in terms of furthering the non-proliferation objectives of the NSG," The Dawn quoted Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria as saying.

According to some media reports, former NSG chairman Rafael Mariano Grossi had prepared a two-page document, explaining how a non-NPT state, like India and Pakistan, could join the group.

He was appointed as a facilitator for discussions among the NSG members after Seoul plenary meeting of the 48-nation nuclear trade cartel ended in a stalemate over membership applications from India and Pakistan.

The deadlock persisted at the extraordinary plenary held in Vienna last month.

This month he submitted a two-page revised document containing a nine-point proposal on considering the applications of India and Pakistan, both of whom are non-NPT countries.

According to reports, to prevent India from blocking Pakistan from joining the NPT, Grossi`s draft note proposes that "one non-NPT member state should reach an understanding not to block consensus on membership for another non-NPT member state".

Zakaria said that Pakistan continues to emphasise the imperative for a non-discriminatory criteria-based approach for the NSG membership of non-NPT states in a non-discriminatory manner.

The spokesman reminded the NSG members of "the heavy responsibility" they bore with respect to admission of non-NPT states.

"It is important for the credibility of the NSG and the future of the non-proliferation regime that the NSG be seen as a rule-based organisation rather than a grouping which is driven by commercial and political considerations that trump its non-proliferation objectives," he maintained.