Beijing: China Sunday patted Pakistan for its “quest for peace through dialogue” to resolve outstanding Kashmir dispute with India as it backed Islamabad’s “engagement” with the Nuclear Suppliers group (NSG).
During the ongoing China visit by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Beijing and Islamabad issued a joint statement which had some references to India.
“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 said.
After assuming power in August, Khan had sought to resume dialogue with India after chill in bilateral ties following a deadly attack by Pakistani terrorists at an Indian army base in 2016.
India agreed for a meeting between its External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in September, only to cancel it after another Pakistani terror attack.
“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 joint statement said.
In recent years, China has refrained from taking a public stance on the India-Pakistan ties, expressing hope for resolution of the disputes through dialogue.
On the Kashmir issue, China’s oft repeated stand was that it should be resolved peacefully through dialogue. India too supports dialogue as the way to resolve the issue with Pakistan but maintains that the talks and terrorism cannot go together. For its part, Pakistan supported active participation of China at the platform of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Significantly, China tacitly expressed its backing for Pakistan’s efforts to secure the NSG membership. India has been seeking entry into the 48-member elite nuclear club, which controls nuclear trade, but China has repeatedly stonewalled its bid.
While India, which is backed by the US and a number of western countries has garnered the support of a majority of the group’s members, China has stuck to its stand that new members should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), making India’s entry difficult as the group is guided by the consensus principle. India is not a signatory to the NPT.
China’s repeated stonewalling on India’s membership bid in the NSG has become a major stumbling block in bilateral relations.
Pakistan too had applied with the tacit backing of Beijing, which is a key member of the NSG.
“The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to multilateral, non-discriminatory arms control and non-proliferation endeavours,” the joint statement said.
“They 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,” it added.
China appreciates and supports steps taken by Pakistan for strengthening the global non-proliferation regime, the statement said. In this context, China supports Pakistan’s engagement with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and welcomes its adherence of NSG Guidelines, it added.
China also heaped praise on Pakistan for its efforts to counter terrorism and said it recognised Islamabad’s efforts in actively strengthening financial regulations to combat terrorism financing, and called on all relevant parties to view Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in an objective manner, according to the joint statement.
But at the same time China is pressing Pakistan to crackdown on Uygur Islamic militants crossing in and out of the volatile Muslim-majority Xinjiang province bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The statement said both China and Pakistan agreed to further enhance cooperation against Three Evils – extremism, terrorism and separatism. China and Pakistan also agreed to enhance their defence cooperation. China is the main supplier of defence equipment for Pakistan.
During his visit, Khan has held talks with Chinese President Xi and Premier Li mainly focusing on seeking China’s loans to tide over serious financial crisis faced by Pakistan. China said it would extend necessary funding support to Pakistan, but this was not officially confirmed.