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Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit : India miffed at Beijing attempt to block NSG waiver

	September 15, 2008

China’s apparent reluctance to facilitate an exemption for India for its civilian nuclear deal with the US at the NSG meeting which ended on September 6 has ruffled New Delhi with the Indian side making its displeasure known through a demarche. This is said to have been conveyed to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi who came to India on Sept. 7 to inaugurate the Chinese Consulate in Kolkata and later travelled to New Delhi. India’s anger was also communicated to the Chinese Ambassador who, some unconfirmed reports say, was called to the Foreign Office on Sept. 8 to be delivered the demarche. In a sign of displeasure, Congress President, Sonia Gandhi did not meet the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister. It was, however, clarified that no such meeting was slated.



India, of course, was shocked and surprised at the Chinese opposition at the NSG, but what riled the Indian side was that in the run-up to the NSG plenary, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was calling up all relevant Heads of Government to solicit support for India’s case. While it was not a problem with almost every other country, even the holdouts like New Zealand gave India a patient hearing, it was not so with the Chinese leadership. Neither Chinese President Hu Jintao nor Prime Minister Wen Jiabao took Dr. Singh’s call, just saying they were “unavailable”. This was the real source of India’s anger.



The Beijing rhetoric at the NSG meeting on the last day of negotiations culminated in the Chinese delegation walking out around mid-night. Later, they told the Indian delegation that they had not really walked out, but diplomats confirmed that they “folded up their folders and walked out”.



According to sources, the Chinese Ambassador who was either contacted on phone or called to the Foreign Office was told that Beijing had not kept its promise of playing a constructive role at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting. He had tried to exert pressure on half a dozen hold-out countries not to allow the waiver to be passed. “There was a definite attempt to delay the proceedings to another round of talks with full knowledge that any such move would scuttle the deal”, said an official in New Delhi. Finally, as the smaller countries were weaned away one by one, China probably fell in line because it did not want to stand alone in denying India the waiver and also because of the pressure mounted by the United States.



Participating in a discussion on “India-China Strategic Partnership” in New Delhi on the last day of his three-day visit to India on Sept. 9, Yang denied that China tried to block unanimity on the India-specific waiver at the 45-member cartel’s meeting in Vienna last week. Instead, he said, China adopted “a responsible and constructive approach” at the meetings of the IAEA and the NSG. Ruling out any strategic competition between India and China, he claimed that Beijing’s policy on supporting India at the NSG was set much before the Sept. 4 meeting of the cartel. He said China fully understood the importance of civil nuclear energy for India which at present relies on other nations for 75 per cent of its energy needs.



Both External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the Congress Party spokesman backed Yang’s stand that China played a constructive role, but National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan differs with their assessment and said China proved to be difficult at the NSG.

In an interview with CNN-IBN on Sept. 10, Mukherjee sought to silence the anti-Chinese brigade in the Government and said he believed in the Beijing claim of playing a positive role in granting the NSG waiver to India. He said he honestly believed the Chinese Foreign Minister who said Beijing played a constructive role at the NSG meeting. He said China stood by the consensus arrived at the NSG. Earlier, when he telephoned his Chinese counterpart to seek Beijing’s support, “they told us that they would play a constructive role”, he said.



The Congress also played down Sino-Indian tension on the issue. “We have nothing within our knowledge to contradict Yang Jiechi. During negotiations[at the NSG meeting], something may have occurred, but all is well that ends well”, Congress Party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said, adding that China was very much part of the consensus behind the waiver.



The Congress also denied reports that Sonia Gandhi had refused to meet the Chinese Foreign Minister. Spokesman Ahmed said the news reports to that effect were incorrect and baseless. No such meeting was scheduled between them, Ahmed said, adding that attempts to link it with the NSG was “unwarranted and unfortunate.



The stand of Mukherjee and the Congress Party that China did not try to scuttle the NSG waiver, is not supported by the National Security Advisor who incidentally is going to China for border talks. A day after Congress sought a course-correction by seeking to endorse the Chinese Foreign Minister’s claims about China playing a constructive role at the NSG, M.K. Narayanan is learnt to have told the Cabinet that China had played a “difficult” role at the meeting. The NSA was briefing the Cabinet about the NSG waiver that would open up nuclear trade and commerce with the international community. He told the Cabinet meeting, China was virtually the last country standing against India as all other objectors fell in line one by one. It required considerable effort by both New Delhi and Washington to get Beijing to change its position. What perhaps forced China to withdraw the hand it had so impetuously shown was that it did not want to be seen as the only NSG member objecting to the waiver which would allow India to re-engage in nuclear cooperation with the rest of the world.



The NSA had earlier made known the Government’s unhappiness with the Chinese role at the NSG and Narayanan’s reporting to the Cabinet only confirmed this assessment. It is now quite clear that External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s articulation that he would like to go by Yang’s denial and China being part of the consensus at the NSG is essentially a move to defuse tensions and look ahead.



China had earlier opposed India’s attempts to get a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council in spite of the fact that when the Security Council was formed, the Asian seat was offered to India. But the then Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, withdrew the Indian claim in favour of China. Political observers say, China probably sees rising India as a challenge to its own supremacy in Asia and to its potential global status. At the UN the Chinese are known to work through African countries that are indebted to them for loans and expertise. As long as Mahathir Mohammed was the Prime Minister of Malaysia, he propounded China’s point of view to keep India out of various regional forums. It may be part of China’s current strategy to keep booming trade relations with India on an even keel while exerting political and military pressure through India’s neighbours.





Yang inaugurates Chinese consulate – talks with Mukherjee

Yang Jiechi directly landed in Kolkata where he inaugurated the Chinese Consulate General before flying to New Delhi on September 7 for talks with Pranab Mukherjee, before heading for Sri Lanka. The inauguration of the Chinese Consulate General is part of the several steps being taken by both countries to strengthen their relations, especially in the economic arena. Mukherjee visited China in May and inaugurated the Indian Consulate General in Guangzhou city in South China’s Guangdong Province.



In New Delhi, the two Foreign Ministers reviewed bilateral relations and discussed the regional situation. Referring to charges that China acted inappropriately at the NSG meeting when it was discussing the India-specific waiver, Yang said, China’s policy is very clear. “We fully understood India’s decision to make peaceful use of nuclear energy and there is need for nuclear technology for India like China. We adopted a responsible and constructive approach”, he said. On the border issue between the two countries, Yang submitted that there were “some differences” on the boundary question which had been left over as a legacy”, but there is need to “find a solution acceptable to both sides so that there is peace and stability in both areas.”



Trade with China

In a bid to diversify the trade basket and bridge the rising trade deficit, China has told India that it would send corporate buying missions to India to look for trade opportunities. This was conveyed by Yang Jiechi in talks with Pranab Mukherjee. According to available figures, since 2006, India’s trade deficit has risen from around $4 billion to almost $9 billion. It is felt in business circles that restrictions on iron ores have widened the trade gap with estimates expected to go up even to $10 billion.



Bilateral trade has been growing by leaps and bounds, with both countries revising their trade targets at regular instalments. In January this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had announced a new bilateral trade target of $ 60 billion by 2010. In the first part of the year, estimates said the trade volume has risen to around $29 billion.



Meanwhile, India’s security agencies are concerned over Chinese mobile phone handsets flooding the market. The issue is said to have been discussed at a two-day meeting of security agencies on terrorism, convened by the IB on Sept. 10. The Chinese handsets do not have any IMEI [International Mobile Equipment Identity] number and cannot be traced if terror groups choose to use them for communication and execution of their nefarious designs. The handsets are issued in bulk by Chinese mobile phone companies in lots of 100, 1000 and 5000 with a common IMEI number which makes it difficult for security agencies to track actual calls made from any of these phones. The security agencies believe that terrorist groups might use such handsets to evade detection.



Border talks – NSA heads for Beijing

Despite a distinct chill in India-China ties after the latter’s open opposition to the NSG waiver for India at Vienna, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan will travel to Beijing this month for the much overdue border talks. The talks should have been held in summer, but the Chinese put it back until after the Olympics.



It has emerged on the eve of the departure of Narayanan for Beijing that China continues to needle Indian forces all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control [LAC]. In the latest set of incursions across the LAC, Chinese patrols once again “transgressed” into the Indian side at the strategically located Pangong Tso lake as well as the Trig Heights in eastern Ladakh on Sept.2-3, said sources. There were both boat and vehicle-mounted PLA patrols on the north bank of Pangong Tso, two-thirds of which is controlled by China as it extends from India to Tibet at an altitude of 4,218 metres, on Sept. 2. A day later, a vehicle-mounted patrol crossed over at the Trig Heights. It remained on the Indian side for sometime before going back.



Similar Chinese moves have been witnessed in the eastern sector in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim in recent months. In fact, perturbed by the incursions into Sikkim, as “settled matter” as far as India is concerned, the Government in June had made some strong public statements about taking up the matter with China.



With over 80 incursions across the 206 km Sikkim-Tibet border being recorded since January, the Indian establishment is especially worried about the so-called 2.1 sq. km “Finger Area”, the northeastern-most tip of

Sikkim, which China is claiming as its own territory. Many feel China’s game plan could well be to use leverage in its policy of exerting pressure on India over the Tawang track. Always careful of not ruffling Chinese feathers, India often downplays intrusions by its troops.