Friday, April 14 2006 15:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming maiden visit to the United States, China has remained non-committal on backing the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.

"On the nuclear cooperation between the US and India, the stance of the Chinese side is very clear-cut. The spokesman of our Foreign Ministry has on many occasions, elaborated the Chinese position on this," Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechie told sources at a briefing on Hu's visit.

He was asked specifically whether China would support the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal if US President George W Bush urged Hu to back the agreement during the summit talks in the White House on April 20.

In the past, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons have said that Beijing, a recognised nuclear power, has a clear-cut position on the nuclear cooperation between India and the US.

At present, the international community is working on enhancing the authority and effectiveness of the international non-proliferation regime, a spokesman had said on March 1.

"China hopes that the cooperation of relevant countries can contribute to these efforts, conforms to the regulations of the international non-proliferation regime and their own international obligations," he said.

"The Non-Proliferation Treaty serves as a corner stone of the international non-proliferation regime and has played an important role in preventing proliferation of nuclear weapons and promoting peaceful use of nuclear energy," the spokesperson said.