BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Ministry’s counsellor for China-Asia, Yuwan has said his country is ready to play the role of a mediator for reducing tensions between Pakistan and India.
“We will try our level best to resolve the conflict between Pakistan and India,” he stated during a media briefing, adding, “We are ready to provide our full assistance.”
He said he hoped that the tensions between Pakistan and India would not escalate further. “The hostility not only affects both states but also affects the entire South Asian region.” There was an ‘imbalance of power’ in South Asia currently, he said.
On the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Yuwan said China held full resolve to complete the project which was a game changer and would be completed with the cooperation of Pakistan.
Earlier Chinese analysts described India’s decision to completely seal its border with Pakistan as irrational and said it would be a major setback to bilateral relations.
“India is making a very irrational decision since no exhaustive investigation has been conducted after the Uri incident and no evidence proves Pakistan is behind the attack,” the Global Times quoted Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow from an official think tank Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy, as saying.
“Since Pakistan is China’s all-weather strategic partner, India’s decision would make China-Pakistan-India relations more complicated,” Hu said.
Hu was commenting on Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s announcement made on Friday that the 3,323 km-long border between India and Pakistan would be completely sealed by December 2018.
A completely sealed border would further hinder the already scarce border trade and talks between the two countries, Hu added.
Wang Dehua, who is the director of Institute for Southern and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, said a sealed border would only disrupt peace efforts made by the two sides.
“The country’s decision reflects its cold war mentality and would only cause deeper hatred among residents living in India and Azad Kashmir,” he added.
He further said a peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute was in the interest of China’s homeland security, especially its western regions.
Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Li Baodong had defended China’s technical hold at the UN on a ban on Masood Azhar, the head of Jaish-e-Muhammad.
“China is opposed to all forms of terrorism. There should be no double standards on counterterrorism. Nor should one pursue its own political gains in the name of counter terrorism, he had said indirectly accusing India,” he said.
–Originally published in The News
