China to make public Pak N-deal on June 24

China will make public its plans to help Pakistan build two nuclear reactors at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in New Zealand on Thursday, a Chinese official has said. The announcement shows that Beijing's approach to the issue of regional security remains unchanged even after the visits by foreign minister S.M.Krishna and President Pratibha Patil to Beijing.

"The move might actually wipe out some of the progress in the India-China relationship since the Copenhagen dividend and the visits by Krishna and the President to Beijing," Srikant Kondapalli, professor of Chinese affairs at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, told TNN. "China is sending a signal that it will stick to Pakistan even at the cost of its image as a responsible nuclear power," he said.

Zhai Dequan, deputy secretary-general of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, has come out with a statement saying there was no need to be concerned about Pakistan transferring nuclear technology to a third country, which is something United States officials have been worrying about.

"This is not the first time China has helped Pakistan build nuclear reactors, and since it will be watched by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the deal is not going to have any problems," he was quoted in the China Daily as saying. The US will not put much pressure on China to avoid helping Islamabad because it had signed a nuclear deal with India, he said.

There are signs Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani earned Chinese backing in the nuclear field by offering to fight Uighur separatists on the China-Pakistan border during his recent visit to Beijing. Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Chinese parliament, openly sought Pakistani help to battle the separatists in its border region of Xingjian during the visit.

"Pakistan is also fighting a war on terror for the US as well as for itself, and the country's loss is greater than the US and the other 42 coalition nations combined. The economic aid it has received is too little compared to its loss. Pakistan has an urgent need for more civil energy and that need should be looked after," Zhai said.

Kondapalli thinks China is trying to force international agencies to treat India on par with Pakistan when it comes to nuclear inspection. The Chinese move poses a serious risk to India's nuclear position. He expects New Delhi to watch reactions from countries that opposed the India-US nuclear deal before making its move. India has limited scope in terms of trying to block the Chinese move because it is not a member of the NSG, he said.

The European Union reacted on Wednesday saying it has no problems with the deal as long as it is within the perview of the IAEA. But there is no clear guarantee that China and Pakistan will allow the IAEA to effectively monitor the transfer of technology to Islamabad, Kondapalli said.