HANGZHOU, Sept 4:
India today raised its concern with China over the CPEC which runs through PoK, and terrorism “emanating from the region” as Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping the two countries need to be “sensitive” to each other’s strategic interests.
Asserting that fight against terror should not be motivated by “political considerations”, Modi said it is of “paramount importance that we respect each other’s aspirations, concerns and strategic interests” to ensure durable bilateral ties.
In the bilateral meeting with Xi ahead of the G20 summit, Modi raised India’s concerns over the USD 46 billion China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) being laid through PoK.
Besides a host of energy-related projects, the CPEC consists of rail, road and pipelines to ferry oil and gas from Gwadar port to Kashghar in Xinjiang through PoK.
Replying to a question whether the terrorism emanating from the region where the CPEC is being laid through has been discussed, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters the issue has been raised during the meeting.
Modi said both India and China need to be “sensitive” to each other’s strategic interests and called for specific actions to “prevent growth of negative perception”.
“As a matter of principle, both countries would have to be sensitive to each other’s strategic interests,” Swarup said while touching upon broad themes that Modi stressed upon during his nearly 30-minute bilateral with Xi, their eighth meeting.
“In order to promote positive convergence, we would also need to prevent growth of negative perception. For this, the specific actions by both countries would play the major role,” he said.
In particular, Modi highlighted that “we have succeeded in maintaining peace and tranquility on the border”, he added.
Condemning the recent suicide bomb attack on the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, in his opening remarks, Modi said it is yet another proof of the continuing scourge of terrorism.
“The Prime Minister reiterated that our response to terror must not be motivated by political considerations,” Swarup said.
On his part, Xi said China is willing to work with India to maintain their “hard-won sound” ties and further boost bilateral cooperation.
“China is willing to work with India to maintain their hard-won sound relations and further advance their cooperation”, state-run Chinese Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.
About the bilateral relations, which experienced turbulence due to differences over a raft of issues, Modi said in order to make the Asian century a reality, the countries of the continent would have to take responsibility.
The meeting came amid differences over including listing of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations in the UN, China stalling India’s membership at the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the CPEC being built through PoK.
Asked whether Prime Minister Modi raised the issue of China blocking India’s bid for the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) during the bilateral, Swarup declined to get into the “nitty-gritty” of the issues discussed.
“I am not going into the nitty-gritty of each and everything that was discussed. Everything is not meant for public consumption. There are certain things (which) need to remain between the two Governments,” he said.
On yet another question on the NSG issue, he said: “I will not go into the specifics, if you read between the lines, you pretty much understand when you we talk about strategic interests, concerns and aspirations, it is not as if China is not unaware of our strategic interests, aspirations and concerns or we are unaware of their concerns. So, it is something both sides are well aware.
“This was a meeting at summit level between the two. They are meant to provide high-level guidance and direction to overall relations.”
Citing that India has not signed the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), China had opposed its bid to join the elite 48-member bloc during NSG’s meeting in Seoul in June.
Modi said he always had a strategic vision for India- China relations. The India-China partnership is important not only for the two countries but for the entire region and the world.
“India has worked to make progress in the closer, developmental partnership with China.
“Cultural and people-to-people ties have also been increasing,” Swarup said.
Modi said he always had a strategic vision for India- China relations. The India-China partnership is important not only for the two countries but for the entire region and the world.
Asked to comment on the Chinese state-media quoting Xi as telling Modi that China is willing to maintain “hard-won sound” relations with India, Swarup said “it would not be appropriate for me to characterise President Xi’s remarks.
“After all we are in his country and it is for the Chinese side to amplify and clarify whatever he said. Not appropriate for me to characterise what the other side said,” he said.
“In the context of India and China, he said that our peoples also have the expectation that we make every possible effort to fulfil their dreams of progress, development and prosperity,” Swarup said.
The Prime Minister is here to attend the two-day G20 Summit.
Ahead of the 8th BRICS Summit next month, Modi also extended a personal invitation to Xi to come to Goa which Xi said he was very happy to accept.
Meanwhile, India today called on other BRICS members to intensify joint efforts to combat terrorism as Narendra Modi, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, demanded “coordinated actions” by the grouping to “isolate supporters and sponsors of terror”.
Leading from the chair, Modi in his hard-hitting address to the BRICS Leaders Meeting here said “terrorists in South Asia, or anywhere for that matter, do not own banks or weapons factories”.
“Clearly, someone funds and arms them and BRICS must intensify joint efforts not just to fight terror but to coordinate actions to isolate those who are supporters and sponsors of terror,” he said, without naming Pakistan.
But the reference was clearly aimed at Islamabad – a close ally of China.
Describing BRICS as “an influential voice” in international discourse, Modi said it was the grouping’s shared responsibility to shape the global agenda and help developing nations achieve their objectives.
He said terrorism remains the “primary source of instability and the biggest threat” to our societies and countries and the supply chains have a global reach.
Use of social media to promote radical ideology is “increasing (the) dimension of this threat”, he added.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup during a media briefing said “(Modi’s address to the BRICS Leaders Meeting) tells you how strongly the Prime Minister intervened on the issue of terror and how be believes that this really is the central challenge facing the moment and unless we have collective approach to this, it will not be possible for us to defeat this.”
Later, a joint statement issued by the grouping said: “The leaders strongly condemned the heinous acts of terrorism that continue to disrupt global peace and security and undermine social and economic confidence.”
“They expressed deep sympathy and support to the innocent victims of terror acts and condemned recent terrorist attacks in various cities of the world,” it added.
Swarup also said it was important to have informal discussions with other BRICS leaders ahead of the grouping’s 8th annual Summit in Goa from October 15-16.
Earlier in his brief address, Modi said: “We, as BRICS, are an influential voice in international discourse. It is, therefore, our shared responsibility to shape the international agenda.
“Our shared responsibility to shape international agenda in manner that helps developing nations achieve their objectives,” he said in this picturesque eastern Chinese city on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
BRICS brings together five major emerging economies, comprising 43 per cent of the world’s population, having 37 per cent of the world GDP and 17 per cent share in the world trade.
Modi said “‘Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions’ is the theme we have chosen which mirrors central priorities at G20 Summit”.
“We’ve taken BRICS out of capitals to involve people from all walks of life. It will be an opportunity to deepen our ties and with BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries.”
The four other leaders who participated in the meeting of the five-member bloc included new Brazilian President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping – with whom Modi held bilateral talks earlier, and South African President Jacob Zuma.
“Our summit next month would not only be an opportunity to deepen ties with ourselves, we will also interact with India’s neighbouring countries of BIMSTEC – Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand, who have been invited for the outreach summit. We welcome you all to Goa next month,” Modi said concluding his address.
According to the joint statement, BRICS leaders recognised that member countries were confronted with “new challenges in their respective economic growth”.
The leaders underlined the importance of strengthening BRICS strategic partnership “guided by principles of openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation”.
They concurred that the global economic recovery faces significant downside risks and underlined the significance of macroeconomic policy coordination among G20 member countries to achieve sustainable and balanced growth.
BRICS recognised innovation as a key driver for mid and long term growth. “In this regard, they welcomed the G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth,” it said.
Stressing that an effective global financial architecture is crucial to achieve growth, they underscored that “the IMF quotas do not reflect present day’s global economic realities.”
They urged G20 member countries in collaboration with IMF to step up efforts to increase the institution’s quota resources and review the distribution of quotas and votes to ensure fair reflection of emerging and developing economies.
The leaders welcomed the progress in the functioning of New Development Bank (NDB) – formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank. They expressed satisfaction at NDB’s approval of first set of loans to member countries in renewable and green energy sectors, the statement said.
BRIC began as a formal grouping, after the meeting of the Leaders of Russia, India and China in St Petersburg on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in 2006.
The grouping was formalised during the 1st meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York in 2006. The 1st BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009.
BRIC was expanded into BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa at Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2010. Accordingly, South Africa attended the Third BRICS Summit in Sanya, China in April 2011. (PTI)
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