US has no regards for facts over NSG: China

China on Thursday slammed the US over its diplomat's remarks that Beijing had blocked India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), saying it had "no regard" for facts.

China also accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between Beijing and its neighbours.

Beijing's angry reaction came after US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Tom Shannon said that China was responsible for New Delhi's failure to secure a berth in the 48-member elite grouping.

Shannon, who was in New Delhi, had said: "We understand that in a consensus-based organisation, one country can break consensus. But in order to do so, it must be (held) accountable, not isolated."

"With regard to the US official's comments on the NSG, we want to point out that this official shows no regard to facts," Chinese Foreign Ministry official Hong Lei said.

Lei reiterated that since India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), its application for the entry into the bloc was not even taken up.

He denounced as "irresponsible" Shannon's remark over Beijing doing "madness" in the South China Sea with a motive to challenge New Delhi in the Indian Ocean.

"The remarks made by the US official tries to drive a wedge between regional countries, confuse right from wrong and are extremely irresponsible," Lei said.

"As China works to secure the South China Sea as an area of strategic importance for it, it does so not with the intention of going into the blue Pacific, but with going into the Indian Ocean and broadening its presence in the Indian Ocean," Shannon was quoted by the Indian media as saying.

"What China is doing in the South China Sea is madness," the US diplomat said.

(Gaurav Sharma is Beijing-based correspondent of IANS. He can be contacted at sharmagaurav71@gmail.com)

--IANS

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