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US urges China to respond to Indian overtures

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has encouraged Chinese officials to respond to the "positive statement" by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, calling for the opening of true communications between the two countries.

Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth gave this information while replying to questions during a congressional panel hearing yesterday on 'South Asia: Challenges to US policy.'

He highlighted the importance of China in India's security concerns.

"Pakistan is certainly a component in India's security considerations but not the only one; indeed, not the major one," he said.

He said there had to be some dialogue established between the two countries.

"We are encouraging the process," he remarked, stating that Albright had raised the issue during her recent visit to Beijing.

"We understand India's concerns and, indeed, one of our deputy assistant secretaries, Susan Shirk, after being in Beijing, travelled to New Delhi for consultations with Indian officials. So I think we are directing ourselves to a way that hopefully will engage the two countries about their concerns," he said.

Earlier, Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman said there was consensus in the mainstream Indian political leadership that China -- and not Pakistan -- was India's main adversary.

"Pakistan does not worry the Indian leadership as much as China does. Beijing still occupies a large chunk of Indian territory. And it is a nuclear power. Of course, in a bid to maintain the charade of diplomatic nicety, Indian leaders shy away from publicly identifying China as its main military threat," he said.

Ackerman, who was in New Delhi recently, is a co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus for India and Indian Americans.

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