Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar may visit China to seek action against Masood Azhar

NEW DELHI: Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is likely to visit China as part of a three-nation trip soon to impress upon Beijing to act against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar in the backdrop of US, UK and France moving a fresh initiative in the UN Security Council for against the designated terrorist under 1267 Sanctions Committee.

Jaishankar is expected to discuss key irritant in ties – Beijing’s intransigence on Azhar -- with his Chinese interlocutors, officials familiar the developments told ET. Beijing’s reluctance to endorse India’s proposed membership tof the Nuclear Suppliers Group might also figure during the trip. India and China last year upgraded one of the senior official level dialogues to the level of foreign secretaries.

Sino-Indian relations have also been overshadowed by China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC) passing through Pak occupied Kashmir. Beijing has brushed aside India’s strong opposition to the CPEC. It is no secret that China’s ambitions in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean regions have also contributed to India’s discomfort.

Yet Jaishankar’s trip to Beijing is also aimed at a review of bilateral ties amid possibility of fluidity in global politics and possible strain in Sino-US ties. The foreign secretary himself has espoused India’s emphasis on multi-polarity amid flux in geo-politics. The PM will visit China later this year for the BRICS Summit and ahead of that Modi may have meetings with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of SCO and G-20 Summits in June and July



respectively.

Besides China, Jaishankar will visit Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The visit to Colombo is aimed at giving a push to Indo-Lankan ties amid China’s reentry into the critical projects in the island nation.

The Sirisena government, which had earlier opposed the Chinese investments procured by its pro-China predecessor, recently faced public protests over handing over of 15,000 acres of land for a Chinese industrial park in Hambantota as well as the port. Ironically, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who procured about $7 billion for Hambantota and other projects, opposed the handing over of the port and land to the Chinese investors.

The Sri Lankan government has said the port was being handed over with 80 per cent stake for a Chinese firm on 99-year lease as it has no commercial viability and is duty-bound to pay back huge Chinese loans. Sri Lanka has, however, announced that other countries are free to invest in Hambotata economic zone, besides announcing India’s role in Trincomalee deep-sea port and dispelling security threats to India from Chinese projects.

In Dhaka Jaishankar is expected to firm up Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pending trip to India which is now likely in March or April. While the Bangla PM’s visit was postponed in December due to scheduling issues on both sides and weather conditions in Delhi, the proposed visit in February was postponed owing to state elections in India. Defence agreement along with cross-border land and power connectivity projects are expected to be on the agenda during her visit.