India hits back at China on Masood Azhar, NSG membership

New Delhi/Beijing: India’s efforts for a breakthrough with China on two contentious issues —Masood Azhar and NSG membership — seemed to have hit a deadend during a strategic dialogue between the two sides in Beijing on Wednesday. 

So much so that India hit out at China for demanding “solid evidence” for getting Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar banned by the UN, saying his actions were “well-documented”, and the “burden of proof” was not on it.

On its bid to become a full-fledged member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a 48-member grouping of countries that trades in civil nuclear technology, India said China has its “own view of procedures and processes”. 

India’s foreign secretary S. Jaishankar was quoted by news agencies in China as saying, “On the issue of sanctions on Azhar, we again explained the rationale and pointed out that it was really pursued by other countries, not by India alone.” He was referring to a US move backed by the UK and France this year to designate Azhar as a global terrorist, which was blocked by Beijing.

Mr Jaishankar briefed the media in Beijing on his extensive interactions with top Chinese officials and talks at the strategic dialogue co-chaired by him. 

“…In this case what he (Azhar) has done, extent of his actions are well-documented… Also, the proposal in question this time is not moved by us. It is not that the burden of proof is on India to convince. The sponsors seem to be very well convinced, otherwise they would not have taken the initiative to move the proposal,” he said. 

About China saying that there is no consensus on the issue, the foreign secretary said, “there is no consensus because China has not joined it”. 

However, he said the talks were “useful” in conveying India’s concerns and priorities on key issues.

“On the NSG issue, (the) Chinese side underlined that they are open to India’s application for membership. They have their view of procedures and processes. These were different from where we are at the moment, and most of the group is at the moment,” he said, referring to the wide support India’s application enjoyed in the elite grouping, which controls global nuclear commerce.

“…Overall, I felt my visit was certainly useful in conveying to the Chinese side our concerns and priorities, and gaining from them an appreciation and their understanding of the world situation, and in what manner we could work together,” he said.

Besides holding talks with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Tuesday, Mr Jaishankar met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Wednesday morning before co-chairing the strategic dialogue with executive vice foreign minister Zhang Yesui. This is the first time China has fielded an executive vice minister who is also the head of the foreign ministry unit of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.