New Delhi: Foreign secretary S. Jaishankar said Wednesday that the broadening of ties with China had been “overshadowed by differences on certain political issues”, while at the same time asking China to respect Indian territorial sovereignty. The comment was a clear reference to the Chinese strategy of blocking both India’s NSG membership bid as well as the Indian move to get Pakistan-based terrorist outfit JeM’s chief Masood Azhar designated as an international terrorist by the UN, apart from Chinese nonchalance on India’s concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The foreign secretary also criticised Pakistan for “blocking” Saarc, admitting the regional grouping has become “ineffective” due to the insecurity of one member nation.
“China is a country which is very sensitive on matters concerning its sovereignty. So we would expect that they would have some understanding of other people’s sensitivity on their sovereignty,” the foreign secretary said, also reportedly noting there was no sign of any reflection by the Chinese on India’s concerns over the CPEC project.
The foreign secretary further said: “With China, the overall broadening of ties, specially in business and people-to-people contacts, has been overshadowed by differences on certain political issues. But it is important for the two countries not to lose sight of the strategic nature of their engagement, or falter in their conviction that their rise can be mutually supportive. We will continue to invest more energy into this account in 2017.”
Criticising Pakistan without naming it, Mr Jaishankar said: “India is a founder member of Saarc, an organisation that has been made ineffective due to the insecurity of one member. We hope to partially remedy this through the BBIN sub-regional grouping. It is also our expectation that the current level of enthusiasm among members of Bimstec can be channelled towards more far-reaching initiatives.” On terrorism, Mr Jaishankar said ways to deal with the threat was a major focus of India’s diplomacy, adding “terror is a snake that bites the hand that feeds it”.
He was speaking at the second edition of the “Raisina Dialogue”, India’s flagship geopolitical conference held annually that is organised by the external affairs ministry along with think tank Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the same forum, told China that “both our countries need to show sensitivity and respect for each other’s core concerns and interests”.
“What we are trying to do is to convince China that our rise is not harmful to China’s rise just as China’s rise need not be to India’s rise,” Mr Jaishankar told the gathering.
Referring to Donald Trump’s election, the foreign secretary said relations between the US and Russia could undergo a major transformation not seen since 1945 and that its impact was hard to predict.
