World Tibet Network News Monday, May 04, 1998 (II)

NEW DELHI, May 4 (AFP) - Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes came under attack Monday for his explosive comment that China was India's number one enemy.

The main opposition Congress party said the comments could jeopardise relations between India and China, which fought a border war in 1962 but are now enjoying better relations.

Natwar Singh, a Congress leader and a former foreign minister, described Fernandes' statements as "irresponsible and unfortunate."

"The art of diplomacy lies in increasing the number of our friends and reducing the number of our adversaries," Singh said.

"The defence minister is doing exactly the opposite," he said, a day after a private TV network released the comments of Fernandes, a socialist in India's ruling Hindu nationalist coalition.

The defence minister said India faced a bigger threat from China than Pakistan and New Delhi would make nuclear weapons if it ran out of options.

"China is potential threat number one," Fernandes said.

Fernandes added: "The potential threat from China is greater than that from Pakistan, and any person who is concerned about India's security must agree with that fact."

He said China had stockpiled nuclear weapons in Tibet along India's northern borders and military airfields in Tibet had been extended in the last six months.

On Monday, the Indian external affairs ministry, headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, declined to comment on Fernandes' remarks.

"No comments," a spokesman replied to a question on whether the minister's statement could affect ties between India and China.

Fernandes also said China was training Myanmar's army and had set up a "massive electronic surveillance establishment" on Myanmar's Coco Islands on the northern tip of India's Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Sino-Indian tensions eased following a series of high-level contacts which began after a visit by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to Beijing in 1988.

Natwar Singh said Fernandes in his interview ignored the thaw in ties. "The minister appears to be ignoring that process. This, to say the least, is both irresponsible and unfortunate."

Singh urged Prime Minister Vajpayee to clarify if Fernandes was airing his personal opinion or the official government stance.

Fernandes is a long-time critic of China and a staunch supporter of Tibet's independence. Last month he alleged that China had illegally built a helipad on Indian territory.

Congress spokesman Salman Khurshed added: "The time has come for the prime minister to put an end to the confusion the defence minister is creating with regard to the foreign and defence policy of India."

Fernandes' comments came on the heels of the first-ever visit to India by a chief of the Chinese army, General Fu Quanyou.

India says China still holds 40,000 square kilometres (16,000 square miles) of its territory in Kashmir. China lays claim to a swathe of Indian territory in the far eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.