The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)’s annual plenary sessions, since 2011 to date, have seen Tdiscussions on India’s relationship with the Group. Although the statements issued at these plenary sessions have remained restricted to the mere mention that the Group “discussed the NSG relationship with India” and that India has still not officially approached the NSG for participation, the debate nonetheless has progressed to assess the merits and risks of India’s participation at the NSG. One of the major risks, as has been flagged by some of the 46-participating governments (PGs) at the NSG, is that the inclusion of India (which is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) would result in a loss of credibility for the NSG as its members have repeatedly stressed on the importance of the NPT non-proliferation norm, using that as a reference point for determining their own export control activities.

This paper examines the relationship between the NSG and the NPT and assesses the relevance of NPT to the debate on India’s participation at the NSG. The paper will begin by studying in brief the debate on India’s participation at the NSG and highlight the arguments put forth against India’s participation at the Group, with emphasis on the factor of India’s non-NPT-signatory status. The next section will examine the history of the relationship between the NSG and the NPT and argue that NSG was not meant to be bound within the mandate of the NPT. Subsequently, the paper will underline the importance of assessing the levels of commitment that a government participating at the NSG demonstrates towards the goal of non-proliferation, and argue that membership of the NPT fails to serve as an accurate indicator of this commitment. The paper will conclude by arguing that NPT-membership should, therefore, not be a significant factor in consideration of India’s entry into the Group.