China non-committal about its envoy’s idea

INDIA AND PAKISTAN ARE THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF SCO AND THEY PARTICIPATED IN THE SUMMIT HELD IN THE COASTAL CHINESE CITY OF QINGDAO.

China on Wednesday appeared non-committal on a proposal floated by its envoy in India for a trilateral summit of Beijing, New Delhi and Islamabad under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, saying India and Pakistan should strengthen bilateral dialogue to resolve disputes.

Luo Zhaohui, Beijing’s ambassador to New Delhi, had created a flutter on Monday after he had suggested that India, China and Pakistan could hold a summit on the sidelines of the SCO.

The proposal was shot down by the external affairs ministry, which said there was no role for any third country in India-Pakistan relations.

Both India and Pakistan are China’s friends and neighbours, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said when he was asked about Luo’s remarks at a regular news briefing.

“We are willing to conduct relations with all our neighbours, including Pakistan and India, to strengthen our cooperation for better development and stability in this region,” he said.

“We also hope India (and) Pakistan can strengthen their dialogue to improve mutual trust in their bilateral relations. This is in the interest of the regional countries,” Geng added.

“What I said represents the official position of the Chinese side,” Geng said when he was asked whether Beijing is distancing itself from Luo’s comments.

Addressing a seminar on China-India ties in the wake of the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, Luo said “some Indian friends” had suggested India, China and Pakistan could cooperate by holding a summit on the margins of SCO.

He had called it a “very constructive idea”.