By M.R. Narayan Swamy, IANS
Singapore : Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday that China backs international civil nuclear energy cooperation with India, remarks seen as Beijing’s inclination not to block New Delhi’s efforts to conduct nuclear commerce.
Wen made the remarks to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a 30-minute bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit here as New Delhi was set for talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on an India-specific safeguards agreement.
Indian officials said Wen was “forthcoming and supportive of international civil nuclear energy cooperation with India”, interpreting it as China’s gesture not to block New Delhi’s case when it goes to the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Wen’s comments came a day after Manmohan Singh told reporters on his way to Singapore that “the Chinese have not said that they will not support us” over nuclear commerce.
China was one of the countries that took a stridently anti-India stand after New Delhi’s 1998 nuclear tests. It is a key member of the NSG, and its support is vital for India to enter the world of nuclear commerce.
India is to discuss with the IAEA an India specific safeguards agreement for its civilian nuclear reactors that will be separated in line with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
If and when that happens, India will approach the NSG to seek an exemption to conduct nuclear commerce. The NSG’s green signal is necessary because it is the biggest cartel of nations preventing nuclear commerce with India, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Wednesday’s meeting between Manmohan Singh and Wen was their second this year, and officials said the talks were marked “by cordiality and friendship”.
The two leaders reiterated their readiness to take the India-China Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity “to a new level”.
Wen told Manmohan Singh said that “friendship with India is the strategic and long term objective of China”.
Manmohan Singh responded in kind, stating India attached great importance to partnership with China and was committed to build bilateral relations “for mutual benefit and on the basis of mutual sensitivity to each others’ concerns”.
The two leaders also expressed their readiness to see “a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution” to their long-standing border dispute that sparked a war in 1962.
Manmohan Singh and Wen also discussed opportunities for furthering cooperation in regional and multilateral forums on global issues such as climate change and energy security.
Wen said China eagerly awaited the visit by Manmohan Singh early next year.