The Chinese foreign ministry has finally spoken on the India-Pakistan-China axis amidst the rising tensions over the Mumbai attacks. However, China has refused to come out in open support of Pakistan over the Mumbai terror attacks. In fact adopting a neutral stance China today (Dec 23) appealed to India and Pakistan to maintain calm and work together to investigate the “cause” of the terror attack on Mumbai and “identify its mastermind.” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Tuesday (Dec 23) expressed the hope that India and Pakistan will cooperate with each other in the investigations into the Mumbai attack. He also suggested that the two countries make “joint efforts” to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Qin said that the question of “where the terrorists are from” is a matter that will be known after proper investigations. He was replying to a question about India’s concerns that terrorists in the Mumbai attack came from Pakistan and Islamabad’s refusal to accept it.
But he skirted specific queries about China’s views Pakistan’s efforts to book the terrorists or track down their sources and supporters. He did not reply to questions on whether China was talking with Pakistan over the nature of investigations or it wished to take a stand on the issue.
It seemed clear that Beijing wished to stick to platitudes even after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the international community to apply pressure on Pakistan and foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said New Delhi’s patience is already strained.
“We hope that the two countries can have dialogue and consultation to solve relevant issues and improve their relations as major countries in South Asia,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a press conference today. The two countries can “contribute to peace and stability in the region” by cooperating with each other, he said.
Pakistan, which signed an agreement on military cooperation with China on December 15, needs Chinese help today more than ever. China observers say Beijing sees in the current situation an opportunity to play a more important role in the region that it ever did. This is the time for Beijing to try and wean Islamabad as far away from Washington as possible.
Incidentally, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has confirmed her plans to visit Beijing in the new year, Qin said. But the exact dates have not been announced.
China observers said Beijing needed Pakistani support to ensure that Islamic terrorists do not enhance their campaign in Xinjiang province, which is a hotbed of separatism spearheaded by forces trained in Pakistan. China is constantly worried about the East Turkmenistan movement in Xinjiang, where terrorists are battling to carve out a separate nation.
Beijing also feels India would be careful about stroking the fires along the border with Pakistan as long as there is a perception that it will back Islamabad. In fact, Pakistan’s defiance of international pressures on the Mumbai attack issue is partly explained by its faith in China, its “all weather friend”.
Chinese leaders, who shared a long and cosy relationship with former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, have been less than comfortable with the newly elected leadership in Islamabad. The official Chinese media has been harping on the many challenges faced by the new Pakistani leadership in maintaining peace at home as well as feeding its poor millions.
But Beijing would still make the most of the new situation to enhance its influence in Asia at a time when the US is engaged in settling down to a new regime and battling the economic crisis, sources said. The developments in South Asia come at a time when China has managed to resolve many of its long-held differences with Japan and in on the way to solve its problems in Taiwan.
(Agencies)
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