India's foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale addressed media following PM Modi's multiple engagements at the G7 summit and assured that United Nations General Secretary António Guterres is willing to support India's bid for the membership of the Nuclear Supplier's Group (NSG). Briefing the media at the G7 Summit, Vijay Gokhale said that PM Modi and António Guterres held a brief meeting during which they discussed the issues of climate change. He added that PM Modi spoke about nuclear power as an 'investment intensive energy' with António Guterres and how India's membership at the NSG is crucial in the matter. Vijay Gokhale further stated that the UNSG understood India's stand on NSG and assured his support to its membership in the group. 

"There was a brief meeting between PM Modi and UN Secretary-General. Mr António Guterres was enthusiastic about PM Modi's initiatives on climate change. PM Modi spoke about his initiatives for single-use plastic. One of the ideas PM Modi spoke of with regards to climate change was whether or note the world could come together to create a pool of trained volunteers which would have the countries to recover after a disaster. The Secretary-General also expressed concern over India's thermal power plants in the context of climate change and in response PM Modi explained to him that India is moving towards renewable forms of energy, cleaner forms of energy. In this regard. PM referred to nuclear power and said that this is an investment intensive energy that therefore membership of the Nuclear Supplier's Group is crucial to building investors' confidence and the UNSG said that he understood India's position in this regard and that he was willing to help out in this matter," Vijay Gokhale said addressing the media at the G7 Summit. 

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What is the Nuclear Suppliers Group?

The NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries seeking to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. The NSG was founded in May 1974 and first met in November 1975. Currently, there are 48 members in this group. Out of the 48 countries, 44 are supporting India's entry in the NSG, including USA, UK, Russia, France and Japan. During a state visit to India in November 2010, former US President Barack Obama has assured US' support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

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PM Modi at G7

At the G7 Summit in France on Monday, PM Modi held an array of discussions and bilateral meetings with global leaders including UK PM Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump. During the meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, PM Modi discussed strengthening bilateral ties in trade & investment, defence and security, and education sectors. Ahead of his participation at the Climate Action Summit at the UN next month, PM Modi exchanged views on climate change and other issues of mutual interest with UNSG António Guterres. The Prime Minister took to Twitter and shared pictures of his meeting with the UNSG.

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