China says it backs Pakistan in defending ‘sovereignty’

BEIJING: China said on Tuesday it supports Pakistan in defending “national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, after a ceasefire ended four days of fighting with India over a deadly attack in Kashmir.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said China welcomed the two countries “handling differences through dialogue” as he met his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Beijing.

Dar’s visit comes after India and Pakistan exchanged tit-for-tat drone, missile and artillery fire following the April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir which killed 26 people.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the militants it claimed were behind the attack — the deadliest on civilians in Muslim-majority Kashmir in decades. Pakistan denies the charge.

US President Donald Trump announced a surprise truce on May 10, which appears to be holding over more than a week later.

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China is Pakistan’s largest arms supplier and Dar confirmed that Islamabad used Chinese jets against India.

Wang meanwhile called Pakistan an “ironclad friend” and vowed to deepen the “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership” between the two countries, a readout from China’s foreign ministry said.

RESPONSE WOULD BE ‘BRUTAL’

Last week, ISPR chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry warned against any ceasefire violation by India, saying the “response would be brutal”.  

In an interview to Sky News, the military’s media wing head said, “Anyone who tries to violate our territory and integrity and sovereignty, our response will be brutal.”

“If India thinks that it can carve out a space for war between India and Pakistan, it is actually a recipe for carving out mutual destruction,” the ISPR director general said.

About the recognition of the nuclear threat, he, “Any sane player like the USA understands this absurdity and what the Indians are trying to do here.”

On the other hand, Lt-Gen Chaudhry also said India was trying to “internalise” the issue and “harassing” Kashmiri people with a heavy troop presence.

“It is a problem that has to be resolved by the people of Kashmir as per the United Nations Security Council resolution.”

Lt-Gen Chaudhry was referring to the fact that India is still adamant to any third-party intervention or mediation.

However, Pakistan has suspended the Shimla Agreement, the instrument that made the Kashmir dispute a bilateral issue. The move was a response to New Delhi’s decision to put the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance.

Islamabad has made it clear that any act threatening the country’s water security of Pakistan would be considered an act of war.