NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
The sources said President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was in Beijing before proceeding to Kathmandu for the SAARC summit, was asked to explain the backdrop in which the US was allowed exclusive access to the two major airports at Jacobabad and Pasni.
They said Beijing was upset that the US had also reportedly been allowed to set up some listening posts in the Northern Areas, which borders China's Xinjiang province and Tibet, to monitor any nuclear or army activities in the region.
Beijing feels the US forces could launch 'third country operations' from Pakistan using these facilities in the long run, though these were exclusively meant for the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, the sources said.
In lieu of its assistance to develop the Gwadar port, where construction activity is under progress, China wanted independent control over certain facilities there, but has decided to backtrack due to differences over the issue, the sources said.
In a related development, Pakistan's application for membership to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is unlikely to be approved at the meeting of foreign ministers of the regional grouping. The meeting began in Beijing on Monday.
Russia is opposed to Pakistan's entry into the SCO since Islamabad backed the Taliban, which exported terrorism into Chechnya and Central Asia, before and when it was ruling Afghanistan.
SCO is a regional grouping comprising China, Russia and four Central Asian republics. It agenda includes fighting Islamic militancy.
The group, established jointly by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 1996, was formerly known as Shanghai Five. It was expanded and renamed as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in June last year to include Uzbekistan.
Tell us what you think of this report
Call India
