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NEW DELHI: Asian giants India and China were to hold talks on Monday amid tension over Beijing's perceived reluctance to support New Delhi's civilian nuclear ambitions.
India has criticised Beijing for being unwilling to support its entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), which controls global atomic commerce.
New Delhi's inclusion into the NSG, which was approved Saturday, is crucial for energy-hungry India to buy nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to power its booming economy.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was to meet his counterpart Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi later Monday, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We were rather disappointed because the Chinese suddenly jumped into the arena supporting - they didn't say anything themselves - the naysayers," India's national security adviser M.K. Narayanan told NDTV news channel Sunday.
"We will of course express some kind of disappointment... saying that we expected more from them," he added.
China had expressed concerns over lifting the ban since India, which had been denied access to civilian nuclear technology because it tested a nuclear weapon in 1974, is not a member of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
But India finally made a "formal declaration" on Friday to stand by its non-proliferation commitments and uphold its moratorium on tests, and China withdrew its earlier opposition.
A foreign ministry official said India's disappointment with China's stance at the NSG followed "repeated assurances" from President Hu Jintao that they would not oppose a consensus on the entry of New Delhi.
"We were told by the Chinese that they would not create difficulties when it came to the NSG waiver," said the official, who declined to be named.
Beijing on Monday said "all nations are entitled to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy" and that "relevant cooperation should help maintain the integrity and validity of the international nuclear non-proliferation system."
C.U. Bhaskar, former head of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, said the latest friction was part of longstanding competition between the economic and strategic rivals.
But he noted that there had been a "concerted attempt by both sides to set aside differences" and normalise bilateral ties despite mistrust stemming from a brief but bitter border conflict in 1962.
"Clearly, until now China has been the major power in Asia, which was skewed in China's favour," Bhaskar said.
"With India entering the NSG, a new strategic equation has been introduced into Asia and this clearly has caused disquiet to China," he said.
Beijing's alleged change of position was a "covert attempt to prevent a successful rise of India."
"China's credibility in bilateral relations with India is at stake" with New Delhi likely to adopt a more "wary" approach, he said.
Besides differences at the NSG, India and China will review progress made in 11 rounds of talks to resolve a thorny boundary dispute, officials said.
India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres of its Himalayan territory, while Beijing claims the whole of the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is 90,000 square kilometres.
- AFP/yb
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