- China welcomes and supports efforts by India and Pakistan to properly handle their differences through dialogue: Foreign Ministry spokesperson
BEIJING: China and Pakistan are “traditional friends and neighbors,” as the two countries enjoying “very close cooperation” in various fields, but this cooperation is not “targeted at any third party,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday, state media reported.
Addressing her regular briefing here, she said that as to the situation between India and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out during his talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar that China welcomes and supports efforts by India and Pakistan to properly handle their differences through dialogue, achieve a full and lasting ceasefire, and seek fundamental solutions.
The spokesperson said that this is in line with the fundamental and long-term interests of both sides and conducive to regional peace and stability, as well as the shared expectation of the international community.
“As we stressed more than once, China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role to this end, she added.
About China, Afghanistan and Pakistan trilateral meeting held in Beijing, Mao Ning said that the foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan held an informal meeting in Beijing this morning.
On Tuesday, China said it supported Pakistan in defending “national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, after a ceasefire brought back the two nuclear-armed neighbors from the brink of a nuclear clash.
The statement by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China welcomed the two countries “handling differences through dialogue” came he met his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Beijing.
Dar’s visit comes after India and Pakistan exchanged tit-for-tat drone, missile and artillery fire following the April 22 attack in the Pahalgam area of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
New Delhi instantly blamed Islamabad for the attack in which 26 tourists were killed. Pakistan denied the charge and stated that it was ready to cooperate in an independent investigation that it proposed, might be undertaken by other countries.
However, India on May 6 launched missile strikes inside Pakistan, an attack followed by drone strikes. It later also targeted some air bases in Pakistan. Pakistan on May 10 retaliated to the attacks and on the same day US President Donald Trump announced a surprise truce.
This truce appears to be holding over more than a week later.
Ishaq Dar on Tuesday held in-depth consultations with Wang Yi. FM Dar and the Chinese foreign minister hailed All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership and ironclad friendship between Pakistan and China during the meeting, a news release said.
During the meeting both the leaders expressed satisfaction at the commonality of views on all issues of mutual interest and expressed their firm resolve to continue bilateral cooperation for regional peace, development and stability.
Moreover, amid the meeting both sides exchanged views on the evolving situation in South Asia, future trajectory of Pakistan-China friendship, and CPEC 2.0.
China is Pakistan’s largest arms supplier and Dar confirmed that Islamabad used Chinese jets against India.
