Rising Chinese star is here

NEW DELHI: Even as China’s stand on the nuclear deal in the NSG still remains unclear, an important leader of the Chinese Communist party is in town to meet political leaders as part of a familiarisation trip. CPC secretary of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality Wang Yang, who is here on the invitation of the external affairs ministry, on Monday met a host of Congress leaders and ministers.

An expert of economic management, Mr Wang, who is here on the invitation of the ministry of external affairs, is dubbed one of the `rising stars of the Chinese political system’ and considered a protégé of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Among those he met was minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh. During the meeting Mr Ramesh talked about the need for India and China to participate in joint projects and push Indo-China ties beyond trade and investment into more collaborative efforts. One of the ideas that was floated during the meeting was the idea of a joint India-China university on the lines of the planned Saarc university.

Mr Wang, who is leading a business delegation, is an alternate member of the 16th CPC Central Committee and has been secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee since December 2005. Chongqing, a municipality under the Chinese central government in western China, is a commercial hub and has one of the largest aluminum plant.

Mr Wang who is also visiting Kolkata and Bangalore, also met Congress leader Karan Singh and talked about increasing cultural and commercial exchanges.

Of course, civilian nuclear energy was carefully kept out of the discourse that Mr Wang had with leaders during the `friendly visit’. Nevertheless it is China’s support in the Nuclear Suppliers Group that has been the recent focus of Indo-China ties.

China’s ambassador to India Sun Yuxi was recently quoted as saying that his government had been cautious about making an official statement on the nuclear deal and is concerned about its impact on the `effectiveness’ of the international non-proliferation regime. The assessment in New Delhi is that China will gauge the mood in the NSG before taking a decision on supporting India’s nuclear aspirations.