The Hindu : Front Page : No assurance on nuclear deal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2008
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No assurance on nuclear deal

Pallavi Aiyar

Beijing: Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday failed to secure any assurance from China on the India-U.S. civilian nuclear energy cooperation.

“They [the Chinese side] conveyed to us that they had no objection to peaceful international cooperation on nuclear energy as long as any such cooperation adheres to international non-proliferation commitments,” Mr. Chavan told journalists here.

This statement has been Beijing’s standard line on the nuclear deal issue. A similar sentiment was expressed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the G-8 meet earlier in the month.

Given that India is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chinese stance has been open to varying interpretations. Mr. Chavan repeated the view, asserted in the past by Indian officials, that he did not foresee China being a problem despite the opacity of its response to the deal thus far.

Mr. Chavan handed over to Dai Binguo, State Councillor in charge of foreign affairs and China’s special representative to the border negotiations with India, two letters from Dr. Singh addressed to Mr. Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao. The letters explain India’s position on the nuclear deal and ask for China’s support when the issue comes up before the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group .

Mr. Chavan also addressed Chinese concerns and explained India’s position on nuclear energy. “I stressed India’s impeccable record … assured them of all the voluntary measures taken by us to prevent proliferation.” The Minister emphasised to the Chinese that the deal was not bilateral between India and the U.S. “but an international civilian nuclear energy cooperation arrangement aimed at ending India’s nuclear isolation.”

At his one-hour meeting with Mr. Dai, the two sides discussed the positive momentum of bilateral ties in recent times. He assured Mr. Chavan that China wanted to “further substantiate its strategic and cooperative partnership with India.”

Mr. Chavan also met Wang Jia Rui, Minister for the International Department of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, and Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jia Yi. During his interaction with Mr. Wang, the CPC invitation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to attend the Olympic Games next month was “strongly reiterated.”

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