Ahead of its President Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to New Delhi to participate in the BRICS Summit, China on Monday raised the hackles of India over its bid for a United Nations ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar. In an indirect reference, Beijing accused New Delhi of “pursuing political gains in the name of counter-terrorism” even as it claimed it was “opposed to all forms of terrorism”. China had a couple of days ago extended its technical hold on Azhar being listed as a UN-proscribed terrorist.
On India’s bid for Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership, which too has been blocked by China, Beijing said it was ready to hold talks on New Delhi’s entry into the elite group but remained non-committal over its support.
While “counter-terrorism” will figure prominently at the BRICS Summit, China’s assertion comes at a time when India has slammed the UNSC for its indecisiveness on the issue of Azhar. China is the only country that is blocking Azhar from being branded as an international terrorist, despite 14 other countries in the 1,267 Al Qaeda’s Sanctions Committee supporting India’s application. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take up this issue with Xi during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.
Replying to a question on criticism about China’s move to stall India’s bid for a UN ban on Azhar, China’s Vice-Foreign Minister li Baodong tried to justify his Government’s recent technical hold in the matter. “China is opposed to all forms of terrorism. There should be no double standards on counter-terrorism. Nor should one pursue own political gains in the name of counter-terrorism,” he said in a veiled reference to India, which is pressing for the UN ban on Azhar over his role in the Pathankot terror attack.
“On counter-terrorism, it is an important area for cooperation among BRICS members for political security. Cooperation on this front will enhance BRICS communication and coordination and will contribute to world peace and security. That is obvious,” he said. He said BRICS Foreign Ministers reached an agreement on counter-terrorism during their meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly last month.
“We hope and believe that this Goa summit will build on the past consensus and continue to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism and other issues of political security and contribute to world peace and security,” he said.
On India’s NSG bid, China maintained the need to build consensus over the admission of new members in the 48-member NSG. “These rules are not to be decided by China alone. On the issue, China and India have maintained good communication and we are ready to continue consultations with India to build consensus and we also hope India can go to other members of the NSG as well,” li said replying to a question on China’s reservations on India’s admission.
“In this aspect we are also ready for discussions with India to explore possibilities but things need to be in keeping up with procedures, norms and regulations of the NSG. On this issue, China’s position is consistent. That is why China has often said international law must be observed,” he said.
Meanwhile, refuting reports of China joining water wars between India and Pakistan by blocking a tributary of Brahmaputra River, the Chinese official media said that Beijing is ready for a joint multilateral cooperation mechanism with India and Bangladesh to share the waters.
Relations between China and India should not be affected by “imaginary water war”, an article in the state-run Global Times said, adding Beijing is unlikely to use Brahmaputra River water as a potential weapon. “The move by China to temporarily blockade the tributary to construct a dam sparked widespread concerns in India, but people in the downstream country may be ignoring one thing,” it said, adding that the reservoir capacity of the dam on the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, is less than 0.02 per cent of the average annual runoff of the Brahmaputra.
“Frankly, there is no need for India to overreact to such projects, which aim to help with reasonable development and utilisation of water resources,” it said.