NEW DELHI, 24 November 2003 — India wants China to reconsider its support for Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programs in return for New Delhi’s moves to back Beijing’s position on Taiwan and Tibet, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said here yesterday ahead of a visit by a top-ranking Chinese official.
Sinha said India and China, which fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962, should pay closer attention to each other’s sensitivities and aspirations in keeping with the spirit of their new friendship.
“We have taken a principled position on issues like Tibet and Taiwan and our position is appreciated by China,” Sinha told naval officers in a speech late on Saturday.
China is Pakistan’s main supplier of military hardware and analysts also believe Beijing helped Islamabad with its nuclear weapons program.
“Some aspects of China’s relations with Pakistan, including their nexus in nuclear and missile proliferation, however, continue to cause serious concern in India as they have a direct and negative bearing on our national security environment.
“We regard China as a friend and we expect friends to show greater sensitivity to our security concerns,” Sinha said.
India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are building a new strategic alliance as ties between the Asian giants, frosty since the 1962 war, have warmed in recent years.
Chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) Jia Qinglin will arrive here today for an official visit at the invitation of Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
Jia, ranked No.4 in the Communist Party hierarchy, is the senior most Chinese leader to visit India since sweeping leadership changes in China earlier this year. Jia would hold talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Sinha and other senior leaders.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited China this year, the first such visit in a decade, and New Delhi, in a departure from its earlier position, recognized the Tibetan Autonomous Region as a part of the territory of China.
New Delhi, without explicitly naming Taiwan — which Beijing regards as a renegade province — also reiterated its support for a unified China.
India and China also agreed to seek a swift end to an old border dispute, boost trade and economic ties and hold joint military exercises, in what analysts say is a bid by Beijing to adopt a more even-handed approach in relations in South Asia.
