China, Pak say oppose J&K ‘unilateral’ action

THE ISSUE FIGURED IN THE SECOND STRATEGIC DIALOGUE OF THE CHINESE AND PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTERS IN HAINAN ON FRIDAY

nBEIJING: China has told Pakistan it opposes any “unilateral” action that complicates the situation in Kashmir, after Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi briefed his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi of his country’s concerns regarding the situation in the Indian state.

The Kashmir issue figured in the second strategic dialogue of the Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministers in the southern province of Hainan on Friday. Qureshi arrived in China on Thursday for talks against the backdrop of the India-china LAC standoff.

“The Pakistani side briefed the Chinese side on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, including its concerns, position and current urgent issues,” said a joint statement issued at the end of the two-day strategic dialogue.

“The Chinese side reiterated that the Kashmir issue is a dispute left over from history between India and Pakistan, which is an objective fact, and that the dispute should be resolved peacefully and properly through the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation,” it said.

China and Pakistan believe a “peaceful, stable, cooperative and prosperous South Asia was in common interest of all parties”, the statement said. It added: “Parties need to settle disputes and issues in the region through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”

There was no immediate response to the joint statement from Indian officials. India has traditionally bristled at China’s efforts to raise the Kashmir issue on Pakistan’s behalf, describing it as interference in its internal affairs.

China had issued a similar statement immediately after India scrapped Kashmir’s special status in August last year. Since then, it has sought to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council on Pakistan’s behalf several times, but without much success.

The dialogue between Wang and Qureshi took place at a time when the ties of both Beijing and Islamabad with New Delhi are at an all-time low, over the border tensions in eastern Ladakh, and