There was a qualitative improvement in India's relations with China under the outgoing BJP-led government, despite the initial hiccups of 1998 in the wake of the ill-advised statement of Defence Minister George Fernandes,giving his perception of China as a possible military threat and Beijing's criticism of the Indian nuclear tests (Pokhran II). After President Bush came to power in January 2001, China had some grounds for suspicion that his Administration was planning to use India as a counter-weight to China in Asia.