Don’t recognise India, Pak as nuclear states: China

BEIJING : China on Friday said it has never recognised India and Pakistan as nuclear states. The Chinese foreign ministry said this while replying to a question on whether Beijing would recognise North Korea as a nuclear state as in case of India and Pakistan.
“China has never recognised India and Pakistan as nuclear countries. Our position on this has never changed,” foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters during a routine media briefing.

China has held back accepting India as a nuclear state because it wanted to keep New Delhi out of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG). Beijing has been blocking India’s repeated attempts to enter NSG on the ground that New Delhi has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. China continues to judge India at the same level as Pakistan, which has a history of nuclear theft and exports.

The question came up in the context of nuclear talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The talks have since broken down.