China backs Pak ‘quest’ for better ties with India
‘IRON BROTHERS’ Supports Islamabad’s ‘efforts’ to settle outstanding disputes BEIJING:China
supports Pakistan’s efforts to improve ties with India and settling their disputes through dialogue and negotiation, Beijing said on Sunday in the joint statement released during the ongoing visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The joint statement also touched upon China’s backing for Pakistan to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of countries that control trade in nuclear technology. Beijing has repeatedly prevented India from joining the NSG.
The statement didn’t specifically mention the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir but said China appreciates “Pakistan’s quest for peace” in the region and for a stable south Asia. Khan is on a four-day visit to China, and the two countries have reaffirmed to strengthen the “China-Pakistan All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”; Beijing and Islamabad consider each other as “iron brothers”.
Khan and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, have also agreed to expand the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, which are ongoing inside Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) – an area India claims as its own.
Beijing has maintained the CPEC projects are economic ven- tures and not targeted against “any third country”, meaning India.
Sunday’s joint statement continues that rhetoric. “Both sides (China and Pakistan) believe that a peaceful, stable, cooperative and prosperous South Asia is in the common interest of all parties. Both sides emphasised the importance of pursuit of dialogue and resolution of all outstanding disputes to promote regional cooperation and advance the goals of lasting peace, stability and shared prosperity,” it said.
“China appreciates Pakistan’s quest for peace through dialogue, cooperation, and negotiation, on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and supports Pakistan’s efforts for improvement of Pakistan-India relations and for settlement of outstanding disputes between the two countries,” the statement added.
Lauding Pakistan’s anti-nuclear proliferation record, Beijing added it supports Islamabad’s engagement with the NSG – while also indirectly criticising those countries supporting India in its NSG membership quest.
“They (China and Pakistan) noted with concern the continued pursuit of double standards in the application of non-proliferation norms and procedures and called for policies upholding rule of law and long-standing rules,” the statement said.