China committed to develop India-Pak to peaceful ties

BEIJING: China is “working
hard” to improve ties
between India and closeally
Pakistan, despite facing
heavy criticism from within
and its expression of happiness
over President Asif Ali
Zardari’s visit to India is “no
hollow diplomatic gesture”,
a state-run daily said Tuesday.
“China has been committed
to peaceful development,
including efforts at fostering
peace between long-term
rivals,” an article in Global
Times, a ruling Communist
Party run daily said. Signifi -
cantly it said China is pursuing
this policy despite internal
criticism.
“China has been working
hard to help better the
relationship between India
and Pakistan, a move that
has even been lambasted by
some of its own nationals”,
it said. China’s expression
of happiness over the meeting
between Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari
in New Delhi last week is
“no hollow diplomatic gesture”,
it added.
The article has not elaborated
on criticism within
China to the policy of encouraging
rapprochement
Pakistan, China’s long term
close ally and India which is
perceived as a strategic rival
in the Chinese establishment.
As China improved
its relations with India on
trade and political fronts in
the past few years, much
to the disquiet of Pakistan,
this is the fi rst time that a
Chinese daily referred to
such criticism. The article
said despite China’s efforts
to improve India-Pak relations,
“the so-called “China
Threat” theory chanted by
the West has blinded some
neighbouring countries into
taking a hard line approach
against China”. “India is
an example of this “it said
pointing to reports that India
has become the largest
buyer of arms in the region
which in turn led to concerns
from” analyst that it
is engaging in an arms race
with its northern neighbour”.
Now if China’s policymakers
were to hire a policy
advisor from the West,
it would most likely receive
the suggestion to counter
India’s hostility by encouraging
or even supporting
Pakistan to harass India,
distracting it from focusing
its military on China, it said
without referring to existing
close military ties between
Beijing and Islamabad.