http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-india-masood-azhar-pakistan-nsg-jaishankar/1/832590.html
Three weeks before China's "technical hold" on delaying India's bid to sanction the Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar expires, Beijing said its position on the issue was "unchanged", suggesting it would likely veto the application when it is reviewed at the end of this month.
China's Foreign Ministry on Monday said its stand on India's bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) - another thorny issue that has strained ties - was also unmoved.
This came after India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Friday called on China to "not give a political colouring" to India's NSG bid and its desire to access civilian nuclear technology, instead seeing it as a developmental aspiration. Jaishankar also lamented the lack of effective cooperation on terrorism, saying that "as diverse and pluralistic societies, we both face threats from fundamentalist terrorism" yet "do not seem to be able to cooperate as effectively we should in some critical international forums dealing with this subject".
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a briefing on Monday, in response to questions on Jaishankar's comments, that it was "only natural for us to not see eye-to-eye on every issue" but insisted that "the mainstream of bilateral relations is cooperation". "The Chinese side is willing to work with the Indian side to expand bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation and reduce differences," he added.
Geng however stressed that China's position on both issues that have strained ties in the past year remained unmoved.
"As for India's application for NSG membership and the listing issue... (with respect to) the UN Security Council 1267 sanctions committee, China's position remains unchanged," Geng said.
Three weeks before China's "technical hold" on delaying India's bid to sanction the Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar expires, Beijing said its position on the issue was "unchanged", suggesting it would likely veto the application when it is reviewed at the end of this month.
China's Foreign Ministry on Monday said its stand on India's bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) - another thorny issue that has strained ties - was also unmoved.
This came after India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Friday called on China to "not give a political colouring" to India's NSG bid and its desire to access civilian nuclear technology, instead seeing it as a developmental aspiration. Jaishankar also lamented the lack of effective cooperation on terrorism, saying that "as diverse and pluralistic societies, we both face threats from fundamentalist terrorism" yet "do not seem to be able to cooperate as effectively we should in some critical international forums dealing with this subject".
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a briefing on Monday, in response to questions on Jaishankar's comments, that it was "only natural for us to not see eye-to-eye on every issue" but insisted that "the mainstream of bilateral relations is cooperation". "The Chinese side is willing to work with the Indian side to expand bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation and reduce differences," he added.
Geng however stressed that China's position on both issues that have strained ties in the past year remained unmoved.
"As for India's application for NSG membership and the listing issue... (with respect to) the UN Security Council 1267 sanctions committee, China's position remains unchanged," Geng said.
