ISLAMABAD – China has assured it will not leave Pakistan alone in the event of a war with India, The Nation learnt.
Senior officials at the foreign ministry said Beijing was in regular contact with Islamabad amid Pakistan-India tensions after the Uri attack and the subsequent skirmishes along the Line of Control.
China, an official said, was trying to ensure peace but will stand by Pakistan if India imposed a war. “They have been publically making statements for peace but they have given assurances they will support us like past wars,” he said.
Last week, China signaled that it was actively engaged in defusing tensions between Pakistan and India, using multiple channels, to prevent a spillover of friction between Islamabad and New Delhi.
“As for the tension between Pakistan and India, recently Chinese side has been in communication with both sides through different channels,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
He added: “We hope that Pakistan and India can enhance communication and properly deal with differences and work jointly to maintain peace and security of the region.”
China has so far persisted with its established formulation that Pakistan and India need to talk directly to resolve their differences, including Jammu and Kashmir.
And yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India had never coveted any territory or attacked another country though it made ‘sacrifices’ for the freedom of others.
His remarks came against the backdrop of deteriorating Pakistan-India ties and an escalating border tension in the wake of September 18 attack that killed 18 Indian soldiers in Uri.
Days after the attack, the Indian army claimed it carried out surgical strikes across the LoC, Pakistan’s de-facto border with India, and targeted seven bases in an operation that inflicted “significant casualties.”
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, meanwhile, has convened a meeting of heads of parliamentary parties in Islamabad today (October 3) to brief them about the security situation on the LoC. The government has issued invitation letters to the heads of the parliamentary parties for the All Parties Conference.
Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has decided to attend the meeting. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf is likely to be represented by Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Diplomats engaged in back-channel talks with India and other countries said the threat of war had largely subsided but the tension persisted.
“There is no big threat of war as both Pakistan and India know it will be disastrous. We have always been advocating peace, so we hope the situation will improve,” said a foreign ministry official.
He said Pakistan was trying to convince the United States and the United Kingdom to back “our justified stand on Kashmir” rather than showing tilt towards India.
The official said US, UK, China and other countries were trying to defuse tension between Pakistan and India through their own channels.
Defence analyst Lt-Gen (r) Moeenud Din Haider – a former interior minister – said it was not Pakistan but India that was threatening war in the region.
“We have been advocating peace and seeking world’s help for this goal. The global community must pressurise India to stop spreading war hysteria,” he said.
He maintained the world powers understood Pakistan’s position on Kashmir but India was trying to misguide them. “They are equating freedom struggle to terrorism and violation of LoC to surgical strikes. The world should take notice of their defiance,” he added.
Haider said the world should press India to settle the core issue of Kashmir for permanent peace in the region. He said China was an all-weather friend and always a key supporter for Pakistan.
International Relations expert Dr Noor Fatima said India was attempting to divert the world attention from Kashmir by creating war hysteria.
“The truth of the matter is that they are engaged in state terrorism in Kashmir. They are painting a wrong picture of Pakistan around the world,” she said.
Fatima said China had played a positive role in the whole affair. “They have been supporting peace while continuing to stand by Pakistan. We are lucky to have China as our neighbour,” she said.http://nation.com.pk/national/03-Oct-2016/won-t-leave-you-alone-china-tells-pakistan
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