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Pakistani soldiers monitor Indian troops near the Pakistan-India border on Saturday. Photo: AFP

China offers support for Pakistan counterterrorism efforts after Pulwama attack

  • Foreign minister Wang Yi talks to Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi ahead of their summit this week with India and Russia
  • Attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14 killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary personnel

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi expressed support for Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts in a phone call on Monday in the wake of the deadly Pulwama terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi briefed Wang on Pakistan’s position regarding the suicide attack that killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary personnel on February 14, and said Pakistan would work with India in “sincerity and determination, to find out the truth of the incident”, according to a statement about the call from China’s foreign ministry.

In the phone call with Qureshi, Wang said China supported Pakistan and India to quickly resolve the issue, and to avoid escalating tensions.

Qureshi said Pakistan would maintain regional peace, and was willing to strengthen its cooperation with other countries.

Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the attack, has caused friction between China and India. India claims Pakistan gives tacit support to the group, which Pakistani authorities deny.

Beijing has resisted India’s calls to label the group’s founder Masood Azhar a terrorist, claiming that there is a lack of evidence to do so under UN rules.

Tensions between Pakistan and India have flared after the attack, with some fiery rhetoric from both sides and shows of military force.

On Tuesday, Indian Air Force aircraft crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir and the Pakistan Air Force scrambled planes in response, according to a tweet by a spokesperson for the Pakistan armed forces.

Tensions between India and Pakistan are likely to be high on the agenda of a meeting of foreign ministers from China, India and Russia that begins on Wednesday in Wuzhen, China.

India’s minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj is likely to raise the incident with Wang and Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. India has called for the “complete isolation of Pakistan” after the attack.

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