China will back India on Masood Azhar if it is a deal, says ex-envoy

Ambassador Gautam Bambawale, who till recently served as India's ambassador to China, said Beijing's objections to the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar under UN sanctions must have a transactional approach. Delivering annual lecture to the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents here, he said China will permit the listing to move ahead if there something India can do for them or offer them in return. "If there is a bargain can indeed be struck. I am confident that our diplomats are already working on such a scenario," he said. Bambawale, known as an experienced China hand suggested that amongst many global issues, India and China do see eye to eye and both do work together. He referred to work done by the BASIC countries of India, China, Brazil and South Africa in the context of climate change negotiations.

On boundary issue, Ambassador admitted it was a difficult issue due to the nature of borders which lie in the mighty Himalayas, thousands of meters above sea level. "Elaborate and fairly successful Standard Operating Procedures have been put into place to ensure that our Armed Forces do not get into situations which will raise temperatures in the relatively cool climes of the India – China boundary," he said. Since 2013, India and China have come face-to-face at Depsang in 2013, at Chumar in 2014 and most recently at Doklam in 2017.

He said despite all the criticism, the India has a better border as compared to 20 or 25 years ago, which has brought the two armed forces closer on this border than ever before in history. "In each case, the Chinese PLA attempted to change the status quo on our frontier and in each case the Indian Army blocked such an attempt. Once the status quo was resumed, the situation went back to normal, although it may be a new normal," said Bambawale, who was key negotiator during all these situations.

The Ambassador maintained that his experience shows that China changed due to the fast paced economic growth which has changed its attitudes and behavior patterns. He said this has come with greater openness amongst the Chinese people towards new ideas, new commodities, new technologies and new products.