Benaulim (Goa) : India on Saturday made some plainspeaking to China that countries cannot afford to have differences on the issue of tackling terror and put forward its concerns over Beijing blocking UN designation of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.
The Indian position was conveyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting here that came against the backdrop of China putting on hold India’s move to get Azhar, the brain behind the Pathankot attack, banned by the UN.
The bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit to be held tomorrow saw Xi disclosing that a second round of dialogue between the two countries will be held soon on India’s bid for membership of the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in which New Delhi hopes “differences” will be narrowed down.
Xi said the dialogue would be helpful. On the issue of terrorism, Modi told Xi that “both India and China are victims of terrorism and the region was suffering from the menace. The PM said no country is immune to terrorism and on this issue, we cannot afford to have any differences,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters.
