Q China has again urged India to join OBOR (One Belt One Road) initiative and China is also clear that they are not going to change their stand on Kashmir. Do you have any response to that?
Spokesperson of the government Raveesh Kumar: On both OBOR and Kashmir our stand is clear. We have articulated our stand on OBOR several times from this forum and there is no change in that stand. We are for connectivity, but connectivity which is open, which is free, which is equitable. Similarly, our position on Kashmir is well known and needs no further articulation.
Q On the issue of Doklam, there have been some reports that there is some troop build-up a few kilometres away from the Doklam plateau. Has the Chinese People’s Liberation Army informed this officially to the Indian Army and are you aware of this and is the status quo really being maintained there?
Kumar: I think it is important to have an accurate understanding of the situation and not paint an alarmist picture. From what I can make out, this particular news report refers to alleged Chinese build-up well within China. I would like to reiterate that there are no new developments at the face-off site and its vicinity since the August 28 disengagement. Status quo prevails in this area. Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect and mischievous.
Q: Chinese President Xi Jinping has been re-elected to the same post and he is said to be stronger than what he was earlier. In his statement yesterday he has told the PLA to be combat-ready. So don’t you think that it is again a provocative statement from China after the Doklam stand-off?
Kumar: What I share with you all is that our Prime Minister had sent his best wishes to President Xi for the success of the congress before it began and subsequently the Prime Minister also congratulated Xi on his re-election as general secretary of the Communist Party. We hope the direction and the policy set by the Congress will further promote our bilateral relations and contribute to peace and stability in the region.
Q The new Pakistani High Commissioner called on the external affairs minister two weeks ago. What transpired? Was Kulbhushan Jadhav mentioned in the discussions?
Kumar: This matter, I think, came up and it has already been dismissed by the Pakistani side. Whenever a new ambassador or a High Commissioner comes there is normally a courtesy call, which he requests with the external affairs minister. In such a courtesy call nothing substantive is discussed. The call by the Pakistani High Commissioner on EAM was in the nature of a courtesy call.
Q What is your response to the Japanese foreign minister’s remark to a Japanese daily suggesting there be a dialogue between India, Japan, US and Australia?
Kumar: Thank you very much for your question. I have something for all of you.
India is open to working with like-minded countries on issues that advance our interests and promote our viewpoint. We are not rigid in this regard. Because of our broad acceptability as a country, there are a number of such initiatives, which we are part of. For example, we did the trilateral meeting with Russia and China last year and this was on the topic of Asia-Pacific.
We also do an India-Sri Lanka-Maldives trilateral on security matters. We have been doing India-US-Japan for many years now and recently we have started India-Japan-Australia. We also have India-Afghanistan-Iran and we are looking to hold the India-US-Afghanistan meeting. All these meetings are conducted at different levels. As far as we are concerned, we have an open mind to cooperate with countries with convergence, but obviously on an agenda which is relevant to us.
Q When US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in New Delhi, the Pakistani foreign minister spoke about in their parliament how the US has shared a list of 75 militants with the Pakistani government, which does not include Hafiz Saeed and others who are wanted here in India. How do you look at that statement? You think they are giving it a deliberate spin or how would you read those remarks of the minister there?
Kumar: Thank you very much for the question. Unfortunately the list, which was shared by the US with Pakistan, we never received a copy of that and we are unable to comment on exactly who are included and who are excluded. That is the reason why I am not in a position to respond to your question.
Q ... on the issue of terrorism. We expect the US should have shared the list that they have given to Pakistan for our own confidence.
Kumar: See, we have to understand and unless and until we get to know under what situation or circumstances the details of the names were shared, it will be difficult for us to find out why X, Y or Z was not included. Coming back to your question about the stand on terrorism, I think that is very, very clear. If you have been following their statement, which was announced first during their India policy in Washington followed by their statement at the Bagram airbase and what he replied to a query on Pakistan, I think it demonstrates a growing convergence on such topics between India and the US.
Q Inaudible
Kumar: As I said, if things are available to us then we will come out with some response, but it is important to understand under what circumstances and what kind of names have been shared, we are not privy to that information.
Q Can you confirm or deny if India-specific terrorists like Hafiz Saeed or Lakhvi, did these names emerge in Tillerson’s meeting with Ajit Doval or EAM because we are given to understand that specific names did not figure.
Kumar: We have shared, in fact EAM’s press statement was very detailed. There were a couple of very strong paragraphs on the discussion between EAM and Tillerson on terrorism and beyond that there is nothing further, which I can add at this stage.
Edited excerpts of the transcript of the media briefing by the government’s official spokesman in New Delhi on October 27