At the first counter-terrorism dialogue with China under the NDA government, India reportedly asked one of its most powerful neighbours to share its strategy for dealing with ‘jihadi activities’ in Xinjiang province, a senior government official told The Hindu .
Uighur militants, affiliated to al-Qaeda operating in Xinjiang province, want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. The official said India also discussed the probable involvement of certain Chinese individuals in supplying of arms and ammunition to the Northeast-based terrorist outfits.
In 2011, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet against Anthony Shimray, the main arms procurer of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) faction, in which it had named the state-owned North China Industries Company for supplying arms to the group. The NSCN-IM signed a framework agreement on peace with India in August.
India and China have decided to cooperate on terrorism and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in May, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is set to visit China post-Diwali (November 11). Mr. Singh is expected to further pursue the counter-terrorism cooperation at the bilateral level.
The dialogue has been an annual affair since 2002 and the last meeting took place in 2013 when the UPA was in power. During Wednesday’s talks, the Indian side was led by Additional Secretary Ravi Thapar of the Ministry of External Affairs.
According to a report by central intelligence agencies, China has become a transit hub for circulation of fake Indian currency notes.
India is said to have raised the issue with China and requested it to share the details of recovery of fake currency notes and the persons involved in its circulation in the past couple of years.
“China shared its experience of how it curtailed jihadi activities in Xinjiang province and the steps taken by it to bring in normalcy in the region. We also asked China to help us understand their cyber security network, which is one of the best in the world,” said a senior official.
China, which has been helping Pakistan with financial aid and ramping up infrastructure in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, pressured Islamabad to launch an air strike against Uighur militants. Though the meeting concluded on Wednesday, officials were tight-lipped about the agenda and were not willing to disclose much.
