China favours 'strategic triangle'

BEIJING, JULY 15. In what could be the most important political development in the post Cold War period, China has shed its initial inhibitions to form a strategic triangle alongwith India and Russia. ``On many international issues, China, Russia and India have similar or near-identical stand and concerns,'' the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Ms. Zhang Qiyue, said.

``We hope to further strengthen the cooperation with Russia and India,'' she said when asked whether the Chinese President, Mr. Jiang Zemin, who left for Moscow today, would discuss the issue of trilateral cooperation between India, China and Russia during the summit talks with his Russian counterpart, Mr. Vladimir Putin.

In the past, Beijing had distanced itself from the idea of trilateral cooperation. However, many Chinese scholars are opposed to U.S. hegemony and stress the need for enhanced cooperation between China, Russia and India to ensure a multipolar world and a new international political and economic order.

Scholars from the three nations are scheduled to meet in Moscow in September to find ways to cooperate and explore a common approach.

Welcoming the proposed dialogue, Prof. Ni Xiaoquan of the Institute of East European, Russian and central Asian studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said it was essential to meet and exchange ideas for further cooperation among the three countries.

He hoped the scholars would recommend some concrete programmes so that officials could meet at a later date to formalise trilateral cooperation.

Experts have noted that even without any formal coordination, the three countries have near-identical views on major global issues and formal establishment of trilateral relationship would depend to a large extent on improvement of India-China relations. ``If Beijing and New Delhi can peacefully resolve their boundary dispute and if India can appreciate China's `readjusted' policy on South Asia, Sino-Indian relations could make rapid progress,'' another expert said.

Summit to be discussed

The Indo-Pak. summit too would figure in the talks between Mr. Jiang Zemin and Mr. Putin.

``Mr. Jiang will have an extensive and in-depth exchange of views on a number of important regional and international issues of common concern, with his Russian counterpart,'' Ms. Zhang Qiyue said.

Beijing and Moscow were ``keenly watching'' the outcome of the Agra summit, diplomatic sources said, adding it was ``quite natural'' for them to review the outcome of the talks which would have an important bearing on regional as well as global peace and stability.

- PTI

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