India on Wednesday dismissed China's contention that it has not furnished enough evidence against Masood Azhar, with foreign secretary S Jaishankar telling senior Chinese officials that the burden of proof is not on New Delhi, reports Indian media. China's efforts to block moves to sanction Ashar at the UN, despite its "principled" stand on counter-terrorism, was a political decision, he said.
Jaishankar is leading a senior delegation of Indian diplomats to meet Chinese counterparts for the first round of the upgraded strategic dialogue amid an ongoing diplomatic chill and cautious optimism about a thaw in ties. China has repeatedly blocked efforts at the UN Security Council's 1267 committee to sanction Azhar, saying there is no consensus on the matter. Last week, China pointed out that India is yet to provide "solid evidence" against Azhar.
"Correct. There isn't a consensus because China hasn't joined it," Jaishankar said at a briefing for Beijing-based Indian media when asked about the issue. India's understanding is that there is "overwhelming support" in the world community for its position. Besides the issue of Azhar, China's decision to block India's application to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) also hit bilateral ties. On the NSG issue, Jaishankar said China was "open" to India's joining but said there were procedures and processes to be completed.
"China said it had an open approach on India's membership but that there were issues of procedures and processes, which they felt needed further clarification and discussions. So, they were not in a position to bring it to a finite conclusion. At the same time, they maintained in terms of India's application, they had an open mind about it," Jaishankar said.
Earlier in the day, China called for enhanced communication with India to reduce the level of "strategic misunderstandings" between the two countries and expand cooperation. Speaking to Jaishankar ahead of the strategic dialogue, foreign minister Wang Yi said China attached great importance to the reconstituted and upgraded dialogue. He said it will help increase strategic trust and cooperation. Jaishankar called on Wang for a brief but crucial courtesy call on Wednesday morning before beginning the strategic dialogue with executive vice-foreign minister Zhang Yesui.
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