NSA Ajit Doval meets Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui

New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met new Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui here on Monday, days after China again stalled India's move to get Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar listed as a terrorist by the United Nations.

The meeting between the two, held at South Block, comes as China has been openly supportive of its all-weather friend Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

Last week, China again extended its technical "hold" on the Jaish chief for a further three months in the UN Security Council's 1267 committee. India blames the Jaish for the January 2 attack on the Pathankot air base, that left seven security personnel dead, and the September 18 terror attack on an army camp in Uri, that left 19 soldiers dead.

In March, China had used its veto to block Indian efforts at the UN Sanctions Committee to list Azhar as a terrorist.

The meeting also comes amid reports of China blocking one of the tributaries of the river Brahmaputra in Tibet to construct the country's most expensive hydroelectric project.

China said it was blocking the Xiabuqu river, one of the tributaries of the Yarlung Zangbo, (as the Brahmaputra is known in China) to build a dam as part of the Lalho hydroelectric project at Xigase in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The Chinese envoy in Lahore has also been quoted as openly backing Pakistan in case of "any foreign aggression" and also supported Islamabad's stance on the Kashmir dispute.

China is also pushing ahead with the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is proposed to cut through Pakistan-administered Kashmir. China has ignored India's protests, made at the highest level, on the issue. 

The Doval-Luo meeting comes ahead of the planned bilateral between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Goa.