Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Friday urged China to not politicise India’s efforts to access civilian nuclear technology, PTI reported. Speaking at an event organised by a policy group, Jaishankar said it was important for Beijing to view India’s efforts to access the technology as a “developmental aspiration”.
“The broad-basing of the nuclear technology control group is also helpful to a more representative international order,” Jaishankar said, in an apparent reference to India’s efforts to gain membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In June, China was one of the main countries to have blocked India’s bid to become a member of the group, saying the country was not eligible as it was not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It was also necessary for the two countries to increase “strategic communication” and bilateral cooperation to tackle “fundamentalist terrorism”. “As diverse and pluralistic societies, we both face threats from fundamentalist terrorism. Yet, we do not seem to be able to cooperate as effectively as we should in some critical international forums dealing with this subject.” China has stalled India’s attempts to have Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar designated a terrorist by the United Nations. Azhar’s outfit has been accused by the Indian government of being involved in the Pathankot and Uri militant attacks.
In November, China said it would continue to oppose India’s bid for membership to the NSG. The Chinese government has held that India’s application will be considered only after the NSG finalises rules on granting membership to countries that are not signatories to the the nuclear NPT.
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