Jade
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NEW DELHI: Despite his unflagging efforts to improve relations with India's neighbours -- especially, India and Pakistan -- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday sounded somewhat frustrated by the continuing "pinpricks" from Beijing and Islamabad.
Asked during an interaction with editors on Monday about China's recent needling of India by referring to Jammu & Kashmir as "India-controlled Kashmir", Singh agreed that Beijing could be tempted to use India's "soft underbelly", Kashmir, and Pakistan "to keep India in low-level equilibrium".
He said this actually underscored his repeated emphasis for India and Pakistan to resolve their differences and reach a good equation. Not only would continued differences give countries like China the opportunity to exploit, but also impede progress in South Asia.
"China would like to have a foothold in South Asia and we have to reflect on this reality. We have to be aware of this," he said. He, however, also said that it was his firm belief that the world was large enough for India and China to "cooperate and compete" at the same time.
After his meetings with the Chinese leadership, including with President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Singh said he was of the feeling that Beijing wanted to sort out the outstanding issues with India. "However, this leadership will change in two years. There is a new assertiveness among the Chinese. It is difficult to tell which way it will go. So, it's important to be prepared."
On Pakistan, Singh appeared more reconciled than ever before to the roller-coaster character of the bilateral ties. He said he believed in engagement with Pakistan, irrespective of the set-up in Islamabad. "Engagement is a better way to convey our concerns to Pakistan. Conveying them through the media isn't the best way."
He said that despite his belief in engagement, the government respected the popular sentiment post 26/11 and cut off all dialogue with Pakistan. "We felt this would be a lever for us to press Pakistan to address our concerns. But as that didn't happen, we went to Thimpu and restarted the process for dialogue."
With a wry smile, he added, "You can't guarantee anything about Indo-Pak relations. So, the meeting between the two foreign ministers (S M Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad) was very low. I hope Qureshi will accept Krishna's invitation and come to India."
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Asked during an interaction with editors on Monday about China's recent needling of India by referring to Jammu & Kashmir as "India-controlled Kashmir", Singh agreed that Beijing could be tempted to use India's "soft underbelly", Kashmir, and Pakistan "to keep India in low-level equilibrium".
He said this actually underscored his repeated emphasis for India and Pakistan to resolve their differences and reach a good equation. Not only would continued differences give countries like China the opportunity to exploit, but also impede progress in South Asia.
"China would like to have a foothold in South Asia and we have to reflect on this reality. We have to be aware of this," he said. He, however, also said that it was his firm belief that the world was large enough for India and China to "cooperate and compete" at the same time.
After his meetings with the Chinese leadership, including with President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Singh said he was of the feeling that Beijing wanted to sort out the outstanding issues with India. "However, this leadership will change in two years. There is a new assertiveness among the Chinese. It is difficult to tell which way it will go. So, it's important to be prepared."
On Pakistan, Singh appeared more reconciled than ever before to the roller-coaster character of the bilateral ties. He said he believed in engagement with Pakistan, irrespective of the set-up in Islamabad. "Engagement is a better way to convey our concerns to Pakistan. Conveying them through the media isn't the best way."
He said that despite his belief in engagement, the government respected the popular sentiment post 26/11 and cut off all dialogue with Pakistan. "We felt this would be a lever for us to press Pakistan to address our concerns. But as that didn't happen, we went to Thimpu and restarted the process for dialogue."
With a wry smile, he added, "You can't guarantee anything about Indo-Pak relations. So, the meeting between the two foreign ministers (S M Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad) was very low. I hope Qureshi will accept Krishna's invitation and come to India."
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