NEW DELHI/ BEIJING: As India seeks to further its economic and defence engagement with Vietnam, China has warned New Delhi that it can't explore oil and gas blocks in South China Sea without seeking Beijing's approval."Any oil and gas exploration work should get approval first from China," said a top official of China's ministry of foreign affairs (MFA). The official added that pending the final settlement of territorial disputes in South China Sea, China would encourage "joint development" in the region.The official made the remark in reply to a query from TOI in a recent meeting - facilitated by the US-based East-West Center - with a group of international journalists. The meeting took at a time of fresh acrimony between the US and China over Beijing's reclamation and island building in South China Sea. According to US authorities, China has reclaimed 1,500 acres in the Spratly island chain in the past 5 months alone by dredging sand.US defence secretary Ashton Carter warned China Friday its activities in South China Sea had the potential "to increase the risk of miscalculation or conflict".China claims more than 80% of South China Sea as its own through its nine-dash line even though it has not yet bothered to identify the geographical coordinates of this line. With its frantic reclamation in the Spratlys though, Beijing has sparked fear that it may look at imposing an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over South China Sea in the near future.The official, however, denied that China was looking to impose ADIZ at this stage saying that the "security situation" was stable for now.Talking about the border dispute with India, the foreign ministry official said that the two countries should be given credit for the fact that they had not allowed the dispute to impact their ties. "The two countries are in close touch through a bilateral mechanism. We hope to resolve the issue very soon. China and India have the wisdom to resolve the issue by arriving at a fair and equitable solution," said the official.