China on Monday said India’s membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group will not be brought up during the international body’s meeting in Seoul scheduled for Friday. While India had applied to the group in May, China has been leading a number of countries against the move. The spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry Hua Chunying said, “The inclusion of non-NPT [Nuclear Proliferation Treaty] members has never been a topic on the agenda of NSG meetings. In Seoul this year, there is no such topic."

Hua added that the member countries of the 48-nation NSG are divided on the membership of all countries, including India, that are not signatories to the NPT. She confirmed that India and China had discussed the membership issue when India’s Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar made an under wraps visit to the country last week.

China's words came a day after India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj seemed optimistic about India’s chances for membership to the group. She also said India would not stand in the way of other South Asian nations that might want to apply. Pakistan too has expressed interest in joining the NSG.

The NSG is an international group that works to monitor and control the export of materials or technology that can be used to create nuclear weapons. India's application had drawn opposition from Pakistan and China, as well as New Zealand, Austria, South Africa, Ireland and Turkey. However, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland and Mexico are among countries supporting India’s bid.