By IANS,
New Delhi : China has assured India that its plans to build two additional nuclear reactors for Pakistan was for peaceful purposes, even as New Delhi stressed that it has conveyed its concerns over the deal to Beijing, parliament was informed Thursday.
“The matter was raised at the official level with China, which has responded that its nuclear cooperation with Pakistan is for peaceful purposes, consistent with China’s international obligations and subject to IAEA safeguards and supervision,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
“The government continuously monitors developments having a bearing on national security and is committed to taking all necessary steps to safeguard it,” he said.
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon raised issues related to the China-Pakistan nuclear deal when he visited Beijing as prime minister’s special envoy early this month.
India has made it clear that such a deal has the potential to adversely affect regional security given Islamabad’s record as a proliferator and is tapping friendly countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to oppose it.
Responding to questions about China’s construction activities in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Krishna told parliament that the Indian government has conveyed its “concerns” over it and has asked Beijing to stop such activities.