International

'India should play a more positive role'

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE MAY 25. China is keen that India should play a "more positive role'' in easing tensions with Pakistan, the official Xinhua news agency said quoting a telephone conversation between the Chinese Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, and his Indian counterpart, Jaswant Singh.

By itself, a telephone call from a Chinese Foreign Minister to his Indian counterpart is a rare development. And, when the Chinese give publicity to such a conversation, they are telling the rest of the world that they, too, are a player in South Asia.

While India has been singled out to play a "more positive role'', the Chinese account of the conversation doesn't say what Beijing has urged Pakistan to do.

There is no reference to Pakistan checking infiltration across the Line of Control, as the United States and much of the Western world have done publicly.

``China sincerely hopes that India and Pakistan would show the utmost restraint and resolve their disputes through dialogue in a bid to ease tensions in South Asia as quickly as possible...'' the Xinhua account of Friday's phone conversation continued.

``Tang reiterated China's position on mediation in India-Pakistan relations and said that China has always been deeply concerned about the situation in South Asia,'' it said.

Maintaining that a stable neighbourhood was vital for the continued development of South Asian nations, the Chinese Minister told Mr. Singh that he was "convinced that stability in South Asia would create a good external environment for India's development, and he hopes that India would play a more positive role in easing tensions in South Asia''.

Mr. Singh, in turn, is said to have "expressed appreciation'' for Mr. Tang's concern about India-Pakistan tensions and for putting forward the Chinese position.

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