The issue of reported funnelling of Chinese arms to the insurgents operating in the northeastern states bordering China has aroused the interest and concern of a European parliamentary group.
Graham Watson, chairman of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with India, says he would be interested in taking the matter up at the appropriate levels in India and, possibly, China, in order to gain a better understanding of the issues involved and to facilitate an informed debate among the 27 European Union member states.
In an interview to this newspaper in New Delhi, Mr Watson said the issue of arms getting into the wrong hands was an important one for democratic societies, and he intended to discuss it at some time in the future.
The remarks by the British member of the European Parliament came on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China where he was expected to hold conversations with President Hu Jintao on the margins of the inaugural BRICS summit to be at China’s southernmost city of Sanya on the island province of Hainan.
Mr Watson was visiting India to re-engage with a cross-section of Indian ministers, parliamentarians, and representatives from industry and civil society, on issues ranging from trade and climate change to energy security and counter-terrorism.
Mr Watson also happens to be a member of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with China, which was expected to visit China in August this year.
Beijing has denied any involvement, but Indian media reports have indicated the possibility of Chinese elements reaching out to newer terrorist outfits in India’s northeast, beyond the usual contacts with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah).