CHINA HAS given guarded support to India's quest for civil nuclear energy. “Every country has the right to develop energy in any form, including nuclear form, to meet its development needs," Chinese ambassador Sun Yuxi told PTI ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India beginning on Monday.
Sun, however, said that objectives of non-proliferation should also be maintained and strengthened. When his attention was drawn to India's contention that it abides by all non-proliferation rules although it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said, "Anything which can strengthen the non-proliferation effort should be welcomed by the international community."
The Chinese envoy, however, refused to comment specifically on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, as it was a bilateral issue. Sun rubbished the notion that the growing closeness between the US and India was aimed against China. "It is only speculation, some thinking of legacies of the cold war," he said.