Beijing highly concerned over situation in occupied Kashmir, Chinese FM tells Indian counterpart

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday said China was highly concerned over the current situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir and escalating conflict between India and Pakistan.

During a meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to China, Wang Yi said China opposes any unilateral action that complicates the situation in the region.

Read more: Pakistan assured of China's 'complete support' in motion against India at UNSC: FM Qureshi

New Delhi's move to end the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir will change the status quo of the disputed area and result in a tense situation in the region, he added.

Wang Yi hoped that New Delhi and Islamabad would resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner.

He pointed out that India's recent measures also challenged China's sovereign rights and interests, contrary to the agreement between the two sides on safeguarding the border areas of the two countries.

Know more: China to 'uphold justice for Pakistan' on Kashmir issue

"China is seriously concerned about this," he said, adding that Indian measures will not change the fact that China exercises sovereignty over the relevant territory.

The Chinese foreign minister expressed his hope that New Delhi will take measures to promote mutual trust, peace and tranquility.

Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar explained the position of his country, saying the Indian constitutional amendment did not produce new sovereignty, or change the India-Pakistan ceasefire line, as well as the actual line of control, the India-China border.

The Indian side expressed hope for improvement in relations with Pakistan. The minister said that New Delhi was willing to exercise restraint and maintain regional peace and stability.

He assured his Chinese counterpart that Indian was also willing to properly resolve the border issue between India and China through consultations. He said News Delhi will abide by the consensus reached by the two countries on maintaining peace in border areas.

The Indian minister's visit comes amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan over occupied Kashmir.

During his stay, Jaishankar co-chaired the second meeting of the China-India high-level people-to-people exchanges mechanism with his Chinese counterpart.

Last week, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi paid an emergency visit to China and briefed Wang on Islamabad's stance over the prevailing situation.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1499323/b...d-kashmir-chinese-fm-tells-indian-counterpart

 

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http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/12/c_138303948.htm

 

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China tells India it is ‘highly concerned’ about situation in Kashmir

• Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar meets Chinese foreign minister and vice-president in Beijing
• Wang Yi says move to strip the region of its special status will ‘trigger regional tension’ and calls for dispute to be settled ‘through peaceful means’

Laura Zhou

Published: 11:30pm, 12 Aug, 2019


Chinese leaders have expressed heightened concern over India’s decision last week to scrap the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory claimed by both New Delhi and Islamabad.

They also urged India to avoid provocation and to play a “constructive role” in regional stability.

The message was delivered by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice-President Wang Qishan in separate meetings in Beijing on Monday with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during his three-day visit to China.

In his meeting with Jaishankar, Wang Yi said Beijing was closely watching the latest tensions between India and Pakistan, its nuclear-armed neighbours, after
New Delhi’s move
to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its special status.
“China is highly concerned about the current situation in Kashmir and the escalated conflict between India and Pakistan,” the foreign minister told Jaishankar, according to official news agency Xinhua.

“The constitutional amendments by India will change the status quo of the Kashmir area and trigger regional tension. China opposes any unilateral action that will complicate the situation. We hope that India and Pakistan can settle the dispute through peaceful means, and together safeguard peace and stability in the region,” he said.

In a separate meeting, Vice-President Wang Qishan said China-India relations were developing with good momentum and that the two countries should work together to lay a “firm foundation” for “sustainable and healthy development of bilateral ties”.

The talks on Monday came after the Chinese foreign minister met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday, with Wang Yi seeking to reassure Islamabad it had Beijing’s “support and commitment”. During the meeting in Beijing, Wang Yi repeated that Pakistan was an “all-weather strategic partner” for China.

Jaishankar, the first Indian minister to visit Beijing since Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his second term in late May, was in the city to co-chair a high-level meeting on cultural and other exchanges between India and China on Monday.

He is also expected to meet Chinese officials to map out a planned visit to India by President Xi Jinping later this year.

Although Jaishankar’s visit was planned long ago, it came as tensions have flared between New Delhi and Islamabad over
Kashmir
, with Pakistan downgrading diplomatic relations and suspending trade with India in response.

Observers in China said the foreign minister’s remarks on Monday were indirect criticism of India that showed Beijing saw New Delhi’s decision on Kashmir as a source of tension in one of the most complex border disputes in the region.

“The decision [to revoke the special constitutional status] goes against regional stability, especially for India’s relationship with Pakistan, as the territory in Kashmir remains disputed and any decision should not be made unilaterally,” said Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of International Relations.

Sun Shihai, from the Institute of South Asian Studies at Sichuan University, noted that the Chinese foreign minister stopped short of condemning New Delhi’s move.

“India may want China to understand its stance, but China already has its own position – that any unilateral decisions on disputed issues do not help stability in the region,” Sun said. “Nevertheless, the tone [of Wang’s remarks] is conciliatory, as that is how China wants to play it, instead of [issuing] some kind of condemnation.”

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...a-it-highly-concerned-about-situation-kashmir