NEW DELHI, June 29: China implicitly rejected on Tuesday the joint quest by India and Pakistan for legitimacy as nuclear powers, a move that could unsettle New Delhi's thinking on a collective nuclear doctrine involving the three Asian countries.

"The international community should stick to the spirit and principles enshrined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as the consensus reached in the UN Security Council resolution 1172," Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang told a group of Indian journalists in Beijing on Tuesday.

The UNSC resolution 1172, passed soon after the tit-for-tat nuclear tests of 1998, had, among other things, condemned the tests as well as urged India and Pakistan to immediately stop their nuclear weapon development programmes, to refrain from weaponisation or from deployment of nuclear weapons.

"In our region, we have seen many wars and conflicts, which have been either due to historical reasons or mutual non-confidence. So, we believe that peace and development should be the main principles and policies for the countries in this region," he was quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI) as saying.

Mr Shen said this when asked to comment on New Delhi and Islamabad's quest to be recognized as nuclear powers along with Britain, China, France, the United States and Russia.

PTI said Mr Shen gave a similar response when asked for China's reaction to Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh's statement that India, Pakistan and China should have a 'common nuclear doctrine'.

"On principle, we oppose the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Our consistent position is for a comprehensive ban and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons. The NPT as well as the UNSC resolution 1172 should be our guiding principle," he said.

Mr Shen welcomed the India-Pakistan peace initiatives and hoped that the dialogue would lead to the normalization of bilateral ties. "We welcome the improvement in India-Pakistan relationship as well as the confidence-building measures.

We particularly welcome the confidence-building measures to enhance the security relationship between your two countries," he said. Replying to questions on China's response to the recent Proliferation Security Initiative, a move pushed by the United States, Mr Shen said that "China does not oppose the move, but it has a few concerns and would like to have more dialogues on this issue."

He further said: "In principle, we are opposed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and we support any plan aimed at checking proliferation."