ISLAMABAD – China on Thursday dismissed the Indian accusation that theindustrial autoclave seized on a Pakistan-bound Chinese ship could be usedfor military purposes, saying it was actually a heat treatment furnaceshell system and not a dual-use item classified under the non-proliferationand export regime.
“After seeking the information, we know that this item is actually a heattreatment furnace shell system produced by a Chinese company in China.
This is not for military use and it is not a dual-use item undernon-proliferation and export control,” Chinese Foreign MinistrySpokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing.
The Pakistan bound merchant vessel from China was detained by India, butthe autoclave on the ship that India claimed to be material for ballisticmissiles is neither military supplies nor dual-use items undernon-proliferation and export control.
80 people are talking about thisHe was responding to a question about the Chinese merchant vessel Da CuiYun, carrying an industrial autoclave, seized recently by Indian customsofficials.
Zhao Lijian remarked that the Chinese merchant ship and its owner haddeclared the item truthfully beforehand to the Indian authorities.
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“So there is no concealment or false declaration.”
Rejecting the Indian claim that the industrial autoclave could be used for“manufacture of a very long-range ballistic missile or satellite launchrocket”, he said that, as a responsible country, China had been strictlyfulfilling international non-proliferation obligations and internationalcommitments.
According to Indian media, the ship bearing Hong Kong flag was detained byCustoms at Kandla Port in Gujarat while en-route to Port Qasim, Karachi, onFebruary 3.
The cargo of the Chinese ship has been offloaded and kept in a godown atthe port, the report said.
