Jaishankar holds talks with China's top diplomat ahead of key strategic dialogue

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today held talks with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi ahead of a key strategic dialogue tomorrow to improve bilateral ties hit by Chinese reluctance to support India's admission into the NSG and back a United Nations ban on JeM leader Masood Azhar.

Jaishankar, who arrived in China from Sri Lanka, met Yang, who besides being the State Councillor is Beijing's Special Representative for border talks between India and China.
In Chinese official hierarchy, State Councillor of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) is regarded as the top diplomat functioning directly under the country's leadership. Jaishankar is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, besides attending an upgraded strategic dialogue with China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui tomorrow.

Underlining the significance of the strategic dialogue, which was upgraded during Wang's visit to New Delhi last year, China has deputed Zhang Yesui, also the head of the influential CPC committee of the Chinese Foreign Ministry for the parleys. Ahead of the talks, China has appeared unrelenting in its opposition to impose the UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Azhar and ambivalent on India's membership to the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Putting the onus on India to prove Azhar's involvement in the Pathankot terrorist attack, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on February 17 that China will back the move to list him only if there was solid evidence. Last year, China twice put a technical hold on India's application to 1267 sanctions committee of the UNSC and again blocked a resolution moved by the US - and backed by France and the UK - in January. "Whether last year's application by India or this year's by relevant country our position is consistent. Our criteria is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be approved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus," Geng said.

On India's admission into the NSG, again blocked by China, he reiterated China's stand, "We stick to two-step approach namely, first NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of NSG by non-NPT state parties, and then move forward discussions of specific cases," he said. Also, bilateral ties have strained over the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), over which India has protested as it goes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

China defends the ambitious project, saying it is development project and made no difference to its stand that Kashmir issue should be resolve by India and Pakistan. Officials say the strategic dialogue will cover the whole gamut of bilateral ties. Two sides have been stressing that both sides are holding talks at various levels to iron out differences stressing that dialogue is the best way forward.

Commenting "friction points" including Azhar and NSG, Geng said "differences between China and India are inevitable, but through various forms of in-depth exchanges, including the upcoming Strategic Dialogue, differences can be minimised and new agreement can be reached on further cooperation". Officials say Jaishankar's talks here in the next two days were expected to set the tone for bilateral ties this year.