China backs India`s aspirations for UNSC

Priyanka Tikoo and K J M Varma
Beijing, May 27 (PTI) Skirting contentious issues,
visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil on Thursday held
discussions with the top Chinese leadership which supported
India's aspirations of becoming a permanent member of the UN
Security Council, a stand welcomed by the Indian side.
Patil, the first Indian Head of State to visit this
country in a decade, held wide-ranging discussions with her
Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao as well as Premier Wen Jiabao
after being accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Great Hall of
the People.
At a glittering banquet hosted by Hu, Patil and her
delegation were pleasently surprised when the Chinese military
band played old Bollywood numbers such as 'mera naam chin chin
chu' and 'bar bar dekho'.
Controversial issues such as Chinese border incursions,
stapled visas for Kashmiris, Indian visas for Chinese telcom
companies and Sino-Pak ties did not figure in the discussions,
which is not unusual for ceremonial visits.
Patil sought Chinese support for New Delhi's permanent
membership of the UNSC during talks with Hu, Wen and the
National People's Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo, whose position
is like that of the Lok Sabha Speaker.
Briefing reporters after the talks, Foreign Secretary
Nirupama Rao said that the Chinese leaders supported India's
aspirations for UNSC permanent seat and had assured the Indian
leader that Beijing would back its bid in next year's election
for a non-permanent membership of the UNSC.
Asked how this stand was different from Beijing's earlier
position, Rao said that there was a greater degree of clarity
in Chinese position on the permanent UNSC seat and this shows
that they want to have a "positive engagement" with the Indian
side on the issue.
The Chinese position as elucidated during the talks lent
greater legitimacy to India's claim, according to Rao who was
India's Ambassador to Beijing before her elevation to the
current position. PTI