US criticises China for blocking India’s entry in NSG

The United States has criticised China for blocking India from joining the prestigious Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

The outgoing Obama administration has termed China as an outlier creating hurdles for India’s entry in the NSG.

"Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China," said Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, the Times of India reported.

"The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for NSG and that the United States supports India's entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG," she said.

"We worked very closely with India to support India's application into the NSG, but we also recognise that there continue to be some concerns, some reservations that some of the members of the NSG have expressed that need to be worked through," she said.

"We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China. As we move through all the other elements of the NSG membership, I think, we're on a good path forward," Biswal said.

China’s stand over India joining the NSG is important as Pakistan has also applied for NSG membership.