We're helping Pak make use of nuke energy: China

Chinese foreign ministry has said that it will conduct its dealings with Pakistan on the nuclear issue in a responsible manner and continue to fulfil its international obligations on nuclear non-proliferation. Foreign ministry spokesperson Jinag Yu said China is cooperating with Pakistan in order to help it make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but Beijing will stick to its international obligations on non-proliferation in its dealings with Pakistan. "We accept IAEA supervision," Jiang said. It remained unclear whether she was suggesting that China will be ready for supervision of its activities in Pakistan by the International Atomic Energy Agency. It is also possible she mentioned IAEA supervision to stress China's commitment to the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Jiang, however, refused to comment on reports that China may have helped Pakistan test a nuclear device. She did not deny or confirm a report that Pakistan was pushing China to sign a nuclear deal similar to the one inked between India and the United States. China has also claimed that it played an important role in bringing about a consensus in favour of India at the recent meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in Vienna. It has contributed to the discussions at the NSG in a "responsible and construction manner," said Yu. She said the consensus decision taken at the NSG in favour of India was possible "thanks to the joint efforts of all parties". She did not directly challenge claims from the Indian government that China had done what it could to sabotage the deal before finally going along with other NSG members seeking consensus. "The situation can't be clearer," she said while hinting that there should be no confusion over China's role at the NSG, which was both responsible and constructive. She said Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi and his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee have agreed to ensure that the two governments are able to "properly handle each other's concerns about bilateral relations". Yang, who is visiting India, met Mukherjee on Monday.