'Greater design' behind US support for India's NSG bid: Pak NSA

Pakistan's National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua has alleged that America's efforts to include India in the Nuclear Suppliers Group was part of a "greater design" to contain China and prevent the resurgence of Russia.

"It's [part of] a greater design," Janjua said at a seminar on 'Pakistan's case for NSA membership' on Tuesday.

Janjua said the current move by the US to induct India into the 48-nation exclusive nuclear club should be seen in the context of 'global power politics trends'.

He then listed "contain China, prevent the resurgence of Russia and keep the Muslim world in a controlled chaos" as some of the leading trends in the current global power politics, The Express Tribune reported.

The paper reported that it is unprecedented that a top Pakistani official publicly made such a candid statement about a sensitive issue. Talking about the implications of these developments, Janjua cautioned that American policies would ultimately bring Pakistan even closer to China.

Pakistan is upset at the US decision to aggressively campaign for India while ignoring Islamabad's aspirations to become an NSG member, the paper said. Last month, Pakistan formally applied for NSG membership, setting the stage for a showdown with India at the elite grouping's plenary session Seoul.

The campaign for India's membership into the group is seen as carrying the risk of antagonising Pakistan as well as China, which could veto any India's application, the  paper said.

Pakistan fears that the induction of India into the NSG would disturb strategic balance and trigger a new arms race in South Asia, according to the paper.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's former permanent representative at the UN in Geneva Zamir Akram said that Pakistan was only opposed to "exclusive membership" of the NSG for India.

He was speaking at a seminar organised on Tuesday by the Stra­tegic Vision Institute, a think-tank, in Islamabad. The Dawn reported that Akram's comments follow remarks by

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj that India does not object to any country, including Pakistan, joining the NSG on merit.

"Pakistan supports the evolution of criteria that can be applied across the board," Akram said.

The Indian and Pakistani comments suggest that their respective campaigns for NSG entry had boiled down to 'merit' versus 'criteria', the paper said.

Akram warned about the likely implications of a scenario in which India alone was admitted into the NSG, include dimming of future prospects for Pakistan's entry into the club and likely growth in India's nuclear arsenal.

IMAGE: Pakistan's National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua