As Xi is due to arrive in Goa on Saturday to take part in the BRICS Summit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the relations between India and China made "great headway" despite some "disputes" but there was no change in in Beijing's stand on the issues of NSG and Azhar.
China's Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong again harped on the need to build consensus over the admission of new members in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.
India plans to provide the probe team from Pakistan access to all witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case but not security personnel from the National Security Guard or the Border Security Force.
'Had this been handled in a correct way, the only lives that would have been lost, presumably, were the lives of the terrorists and that would have been welcome.' The information we had was pure gold. You seldom get information of this kind several hours in advance, exactly where they are going to strike. But we still couldn't act on this intelligence.'
Their special skills of carrying out house intervention and hostage rescue can act as 'clincher' during a terror siege, the official said.
General Singh assured the nation that the Indian Army is highly motivated and ready to respond to any threats to national security.
On India's entry into the NSG, he said, "We have said many times this is a multilateral issue."
'He is still compulsively an operations man. Just a whiff of a live operation, and he is back in the field, at least in his mind. That is why the immediate decision to send the NSG to Pathankot.' 'But there is a difference between classical intelligence or counter-terror operation and dealing with a larger threat to a place as sensitive and sprawling as an air force base. This is what led to confusion and mix-ups,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The sky is the limit for what all could be done at an air base to neutralise terrorists. Good proactive local leadership and delegated operational effort would be key to ensuring that a handful of terrorists cannot hold a whole air base, and by extension, the whole nation to ransom,' says Group Captain P I Muralidharan (retd).
The suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists dressed in army uniforms launched the attack with an aim of destroying the air base.
"Both India and China are victims of terrorism and the region was suffering from the menace. The prime minister said no country is immune from terrorism and on this issue, we cannot afford to have any differences," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters after the meeting.
Taking a swipe at the prime minister, Shinde said Modi used to say that UPA ministers were serving biryani to Pakistani leaders but what is happening now.
Ties with Pakistan and China which were on the centre stage of Indian diplomacy saw a "deterioration" in the year gone by, according to foreign policy experts who feel that the relationships are unlikely to see any forward movement in the new year.
The foreign secretary said almost all major initiatives of India in SAARC did not fructify due to hurdles posed by Islamabad.
India on Wednesday hit out at China for demanding "solid evidence" for getting Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar banned by the United Nations
'...even if they have profound differences. We discuss within our party and with each other, but not openly. We just reminded the BJP that they too, should follow this dharma.'
Swaraj said there is scope to do a lot more and this would be an important element of their deliberations.
India and China met and spoke a lot this year, but failed to produce any meaningful results.
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