Stepping up pressure on India, China now wants role in settling Indo-Pak dispute over Kashmir

Beijing, June 13 (newsin.asia): While needling India on its border with that country for the past month, China is challenging India’s traditional objection to any third party involvement in its dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing on Wednesday, that China is interested in mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue because it has “gained international attention” and is impacting the entire South Asian region.

The Chinese comment aimed at getting involved in Indo-Pak tensions come at a time the armies of India and China are locked in a standoff in Doklam area in the Bhutan-Tibet section in Eastern India.

Expressing concern over the tension between India and Pakistan, Geng said “the conflict occurs near the Line of Control of Kashmir. This will not only harm the peace and stability of the two countries but also the peace and tranquility of the region.”

“We hope the relevant sides can do more things that are conducive for peace and stability in the region and avoiding escalating tensions. China is willing to play constructive role in improving relations between India and Pakistan,”  Geng told reporters.

The comment  came two days after a Chinese analyst wrote in the state-run Global Times that a “third country’s” army can enter disputed Kashmir at Pakistan’s request, using India’s “logic” that it can enter the disputed Doklam area at the invitation of the Bhutanese government.

Geng’s comments were in reply to a question on the tension between India and Pakistan, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressing concern over the situation in Kashmir, and whether China can play role to defuse the hostility between the two countries.

According to Pakistan Foreign Ministry, the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, who met in Abidjan, Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, passed a resolution on Kashmir.

Clashes have been occurring in Kashmir every day in the context of the anniversary of the death of a popular militant leader Burhan Wani of the Hizbul Mujahideen at the hands of the Indian Security Forces.

There has also been firing by Indian and Pakistani forces across the Line of Control between Indian and Pakistani held Kashmir.

(The featured image shows angry Kashmiri youth throwing stones at Indian para military personnel)