New Delhi: Observing that China-Pakistan nexus in nuclear and missile proliferation continues to cause "serious concern", External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today (Nov 22) said as a "friend" India expected China to show "greater sensitivity" to its security concerns.

"Some aspects of China's relations with Pakistan, including their nexus in nuclear and missile proliferation, however, continue to cause serious concern in India as they have a direct and negative bearing on our national security environment," he said while delivering the Admiral R D Katari memorial lecture in New Delhi.

"We regard China as a friend and we expect friends to show greater sensitivity to our security concerns," Sinha said.

The Minister's remarks come close on the heels of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report to the US Congress contending that despite China's assurances that it would not help Pakistan in its nuclear programme, Beijing continues to provide nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles assistance to Islamabad.

Without naming Pakistan, the Minister said there were some in the neighbourhood who sought to play their "China connection" or "China card" to "counter" or even "contain" India.

Sinha said the bankruptcy of this approach was becoming increasingly evident. "China cannot objectively be a competitor for India in South Asia. Destinies of the countries of South Asia are interlinked by the overwhelming logic of history, geography and economics," he said.

Maintaining that India does not judge its relationship with China in the context of its bilateral relations with any other country, whether in the region or outside it, he said, "It also means that other countries need to adjust their own equations with both India and China to factor in the reality that it is no longer a matter of playing one against the other."

He felt that the increasing cooperation between India and China in the multilateral arena would have a positive cascading effect on the region, especially on issues relating to the interests of developing countries.

Rejecting the notion that India's relations with the US could be used as a counterforce against China, he said these were based on outmoded concepts like balance of power. "We value our relations with both China and the US and both have their own compelling logic".

He also debunked the theory that India's 'Look East' policy of greater engagement with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was aimed at containing China.

Noting that India has entered phase-II of this policy, he said this encompassed not only the ASEAN 10 countries but also China, Japan and other countries of East Asia, including Australia and New Zealand.

PTI