New Delhi: China "endorsed" the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal during the recent visit of President Hu Jintao here, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said. He expressed confidence that Beijing would not stand in New Delhi's way in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) when the group considers changing guidelines for allowing the world community to have civilian nuclear trade with India.

Describing Mr. Hu's visit as "reasonably satisfactory," he said India would have no problem if China had a nuclear deal with Pakistan.

"China has endorsed it," Mr. Mukherjee told CNN-IBN in an interview when asked whether the mention of "international civilian nuclear cooperation should be advanced through innovative and forward-looking approaches" in the joint declaration meant that China endorsed the India-U.S. deal.

Asked by Karan Thapar whether it meant that China won't stand in the way of international civilian nuclear cooperation between the NSG and India, he said, "I hope so...There is no uncertainty. I hope that they will not come in the way."

When asked whether he was confident, he said, "I am confident."

On reports that China may offer Pakistan a nuclear deal similar to the India-U.S. agreement, he said: "[A] relationship with one country need not stand in the way of [a] relationship with another. We shall have to keep that fact always in view while assessing the relationship between two countries."

He said: "We shall have to recognise the fact that different countries have different relationships with different countries keeping in view their own perspectives."

To press his argument in the Devil's Advocate programme, he said Pakistan was being supplied sophisticated weapons by the U.S. while India was getting military hardware from Russia. "But that need not stand in the way of building up closer relationships with each other."

"Speculative"

Mr. Mukherjee dismissed as "speculative" media reports that Mr. Hu, during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, indicated that China would support India's candidature for permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council.

Asked about China's plans to forge close political links with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Mr. Mukherjee said, "What China intends, what China thinks, has surely been taken into account in my strategic consideration. ... [But] I do not believe in the containment [theory]. We have gone one step beyond that. We have invited China to be an observer of SAARC, which they were not earlier. This is an indication of enlargement of cooperation; not a policy of containment of anybody."

When referred to China's intentions to form a military encirclement of India, he said: "Every country is entitled to prepare its defence preparedness as per its own threat perception. As I am entitled to prepare myself and to ensure that my defence preparedness should be up to the mark to meet the requirement of my own threat perception."

PTI

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