Pakistan terror has to end, India tells China

NEW DELHI - India has conveyed to China its concerns about terrorism sponsored by Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said Thursday.

Our concerns about terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil were expressed” during delegation level talks between India and China, she told a news conference here.

India told China, which considers Pakistan an “all weather friend”, that relations between New Delhi and Islamabad “will really move forward in a substantive manner once these legitimate concerns” were addressed.

India wants Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and activities of groups and terrorist leaders in Pakistan pursuing an agenda “that is very anti-Indian stopped, she said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held formal talks at the Hyderabad House here.

Rao said China was told it had a direct interest in Pakistan putting an end to terrorism.

The need is very much there for China to also look at the concerns that India has. The fact is that only when terrorism is properly addressed that we will have a stable region. It affects China also, she said.

Rao said that Wen referred to terrorism in Xinjiang and also expressed sympathy for the victims of 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Rao noted that the visit of Wen to Pakistan from India was not “in anyway connected to the India-China relationship”.