India Conveys Concern Over Masood Azhar and NSG Bid to Chinese FM

Vikas Swarup said that Sushma Swaraj met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to discuss “issues of mutual importance.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@MEAIndia)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Saturday, during which India’s bid for membership in the Nuclear Supplies Group is understood to have figured among other regional and bilateral issues.

China’s technical hold on listing of Masood Azhar in UNSC 1267 Committee was discussed during Sushma Swaraj’s meeting with Wang Yi, and according to ANI sources, China was urged to revisit its technical hold in line with its own professed zero tolerance towards terrorism.

Earlier MEA spokesperson, Vikas Swarup had tweeted saying that Swaraj would be discussing matters of “mutual importance” with her Chinese counterpart.

Also Read: China Consoles India’s NSG Bid Loss But Says Door Not Tightly Shut

Sushma Swaraj conveyed India’s concerns regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Wang Yialso and discussed the country’s NSG membership with Yi.

China had stalled India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in June on grounds that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

However, Chinese state-run media, Xinhua said on Friday that the door for India’s admission into the NSG is “not tightly” shut and that New Delhi should “fully comprehend” Beijing’s concerns over the disputed South China Sea.

Wang, who is visiting India to review logistics and security arrangements before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposed visit in October to Goa for the BRICS summit, was among the first foreign ministers to be welcomed in India after the Modi government took office in May 2014.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)