NEW DELHI: China has proposed further discussions for having a “better understanding” of India’s concerns over Beijing’s UN move to block action against Pakistan for the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi.
Speaking to a group of Indian journalists in Beijing, a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official said both India and China were victims of terrorism.
“We have similar positions on this. We are working quite well in this field. We are opposed to terrorism in all forms,” said Huang Xilian, Deputy Director General of the Asian Affairs Department of the ministry.
“We need to have further discussion and conversation so that we can have better understanding and can work closely on it. We are ready to do that. We have a mechanism of counter-terrorism consultation between the two ministries,” he said.
Huang said the forthcoming meeting on counter-terrorism would help achieve close bilateral cooperation in the field.
He claimed India and China had adopted similar positions on terrorism at the UN. “We share similar positions in principle. On specific issues… we need to stay in close communication for better understanding and close cooperation,” he said.
“We have the effective mechanism of counter-terrorism consultation. It is quite effective and we should make full use of this mechanism to promote understanding and cooperation,” he said.
India wrote to the UN Security Council’s Al-Qaeda sanctions committee on May 3 that the furnishing of the bail bond for Lakhvi was a violation of the sanctions imposed on him since 2008. Lakhvi was released on April 10 from Adiala Jail, after the Lahore High Court dismissed detention orders against him.
But India’s move to embarrass Pakistan over the LeT commander’s release was stalled when China, a permanent UN Security Council member, opposed it arguing that the former hadn’t provided sufficient actionable information.