It helps to be cautious of China: Khurshid

IANS/Singapore

There is no need to be alarmed over hiccups in relations with China but it will pay to be “cautious and vigilant”, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

 In an interview to The Straits Times published yesterday, the minister also reiterated new Delhi’s desires that talks over Afghanistan’s future “must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled”.

On Sino-Indian ties, the minister said every step taken with China over the years had been positive. “I think we have constantly, if not rapidly, made progress. I feel there is no reason why we should continue to feel a sense of alarm or discomfort.

“But it helps to remain cautious and vigilant and careful. Because it is not a relationship that has finally overcome the difficult issues that caused us to actually come to a confrontation,” Khurshid said.

“Those issues needs to be resolved, we are both determined that it will be resolved and we are also are very clear that it does not help to hasten resolution if you are not ready for resolution, you must take it a step at a time.”

Khurshid’s comments came even as a senior Chinese military general warned India not to stir up “new problems” vis-a-vis Beijing.

Khurshid spoke on a range of issues to The Straits Times, including domestic politics.

He said New Delhi realised “there are some difficult issues that need to be resolved” with Beijing “but we also know we have in place some mechanisms that address those issues from getting out of hand.

“The need is to strengthen those mechanisms.”

India and China fought a border war in 1962, and both countries claim each other’s territory.

Many rounds of border talks have not resolved the dispute, and tensions keep flaring along their winding frontier.

Khurshid reiterated that India had flagged the red lines over Afghanistan’s future after the Americans began talking to the Taliban.

“Yet we don’t want to stand in the way of inclusive dialogue which President (Hamid) Karzai himself took an initiative on,” he said.

“But because he and the Americans are not able to get on to the same page, there isn’t very much we can do at this stage except wait for the dust to settle and for things to become clear. Then we can see whether our formulation - that whatever happens the peace talks must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled -  can be a viable step for future directions.”

Khurshid said despite requests from Karzai, India would only provide non-lethal equipment to Kabul. “I don’t think we are either in the position to or willing to contribute lethal weapons right now.”

Without referring to any one incident, Khurshid said many important decisions that India was taking as confidence-building measures were slowed because of public opposition. “But the messages given out by the new prime minister (of Pakistan), publicly as well as privately, have been very positive and meaningful,” he said.

“We have also responded to that in a meaningful way.”

India was a firm opponent of the Pakistan-backed Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan.

The external affairs minister said India would get back to the stalled dialogue with Pakistan gradually once Islamabad gives “us signals that they mean business on issues which are of immediate concern to us, and that includes accountability for the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai”.