Hours after the Nuclear Supplier Group plenary meet ended without it taking in any new member nations, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said India’s participation in the international body would “further strengthen nuclear non-proliferation and make global nuclear commerce more secure”. MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said an early decision on India’s application “remains in larger global interest”.

Earlier in the day, Switzerland joined the countries that opposed India's bid for NSG membership even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi got assurance from the European country of its support only a few weeks ago. On Thursday, several countries had blocked India’s entry to the body, saying it was not party to the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty and thus ineligible.

In response to this, the MEA said, “Our stand on the NPT is well known. But let me underline that in September 2008, the NSG itself addressed this issue. Paragraph 1 (a) of the September 2008 decision states that the decision on India contributes to the "widest possible implementation of the provisions and objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons”. There is thus no contradiction between the NPT and India's closer engagement with with the NSG.”

It also added that India had applied for NSG membership on May 12, and that an early positive decision “would have allowed us to move forward on the Paris Agreement”. Swarup also thanked the member countries who supported India’s membership to the group, and expressed gratitude for the “overwhelming number of those who took the floor supported India’s membership and appraised India’s application positively”.