India again fails to get China’s support for NSG entry
Home /
Today's Paper /
Top Story /
India again fails to get China’s support for NSG entry
October 16, 2016
Print :
Top Story
BENAULIM, India: In his talks with the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in the beach state of Goa late Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to get China’s support for its entry to the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
The two leaders however agreed to work to resolve recent frustrations between the regional rivals, an official said.
Meeting on the eve of a BRICS summit of leading emerging nations, Modi and Xi agreed to further cooperate to combat terrorism and to work to reduce India’s gaping trade deficit with China.
But Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said there was no resolution on China’s decision to block India’s entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
India wants to become a member of the NSG, but China has so far declined to back India’s request, saying it wants to wait until a consensus emerges at the group.
“Our broad concerns in the current state of the relationship were conveyed to the Chinese side,” Swarup said after the meeting — their third this year — in the Indian beach state of Goa.
“The intention was that both sides would narrow down the areas of difference since the commonalities far outweigh (the differences),” he said.
“Our expectation and hope is that China will see the logic of what we are saying.”
There was no immediate comment from China’s side.
New Delhi was also frustrated earlier this year when Beijing blocked its request to add a Pakistani militant group chief to a UN sanctions blacklist.
India accuses Jaish-e-Mohammad of involvement in a deadly attack on an airbase in January and more recently a raid on an army base that killed 19 soldiers. Islamabad denies any involvement in either.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshi and Chinese firms have signed $13.6 billion in trade and investment deals on the sidelines of President Xi Jinping’s brief tour to the South Asian nation, a trade group official said on Saturday.
The deals are in addition to $20 billion in loan agreements that the two governments signed on Friday, in a mark of Beijing´s growing ties with Dhaka, which is a very close ally of India.
“These trade and investment deals are between Chinese companies including some of their state firms and Bangladesh private sector. They are worth $13.6 billion,” Abdul Matlub Ahmad, head of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), told AFP.
Ahmad said the deals reflect Dhaka’s improving security situation after Bangladesh launched a deadly crackdown on Islamist extremists following an attack on a posh restaurant in the capital in which suspected militants killed 22, mostly foreign hostages.
“The agreements send a positive signal to the rest of the world that Bangladesh is a safe haven as an investment destination. The Chinese investors are satisfied with the security situation here,” he added.
The deals were signed after the FBCCI, Bangladesh’s top trade and business lobbyist group, and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) organised a two-day tete-e-tete between business officials of both nations on the sidelines of Xi’s tour.
“We will invest in investment parks. There are many entrepreneurs in our delegation who want to invest in this country,” CCPIT vice-chairman Chen Zhou said, according to local news portal bdnews24.com.
As a mark of their deepening economic ties, the two nations on Friday also signed an agreement to conduct a feasibility study on a China-Bangladesh free trade agreement.
Xi concluded his visit on Saturday, flying to India to attend a BRICS summit of leading emerging nations.
His visit was the first in more than three decades by a Chinese president to Bangladesh, which lies firmly within New Delhi’s sphere of influence.
Xi hailed what he called a “historical turning point” in relations with Bangladesh after talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
