China may not side with anyone over Kashmir issue, claims Chinese media

Beijing : Amidst rising tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, a Chinese state-run media has claimed that China is not interested in taking sides of either country in this matter. India has taken objections to the ‘Economic Corridor’ Project being developed jointly by Pakistan and China. The daily has further clarified that China will not abandon the said project, just because India is raising objections. But it is worth noting that the Chinese state-run daily has, for the first time, used the term ‘Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir’ (PoK) for the disputed area. Before this, the Chinese media has been mentioning the said area as ‘Pakistan-Administered-Kashmir’.

For the last few days, the differences between India and Pakistan have sharpened over the ‘Kashmir’ issue. Pakistan, which keeps on poking its nose in the Jammu-Kashmir happenings, is being befittingly countered by India. While India has taken an aggressive stand in this matter, the daily ‘Global Times’ has portrayed a picture depicting China showing ‘sensitivity and maturity’ by not taking anybody’s sides in the dispute. The daily has slammed India that India had better try to solve the Kashmir issue than peep into the said project. The daily further advised that India should keep aside politics and participate in the project, which would be beneficial for India also. At the same time, it has made it a point to convey that Pakistan is also equally important for China as India, saying that China has economical interests in both the countries.

But the fact is that the bilateral trade with India earns China a bulky profit of 40 billion USD annually, which is not comparable with that between China and Pakistan. Still, China continues to weigh India and Pakistan on the same scale. However, by addressing the part of Kashmir that is in Pakistan’s control as ‘Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir’, Global Times has indicated that some changes, albeit mild, in the country’s policy are on the cards. At present, China is trying to gain India’s cooperation. More specifically, China is making all-out efforts to ensure that India will not take a stand of opposing China in the ‘South China Sea’ matter, in the ‘G-20’ summit. The use of the term ‘PoK’ by Global Times, may be a part of those efforts.

In the meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was on India’s visit. During the meeting with him, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had once again conveyed India’s objections to the Chinese Foreign Minister ‘ regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ project. This was highlighted by the Indian media.

The Global Times newspaper, in an another news report, had expressed displeasure regarding this, saying that Indian media always search for negative aspects in the India-China relations. The Global Times daily has also remarked in this news report that this was due to the influence of Western countries on the Indian media.

Global Times appealed to the Indian media to not portray the India-China relations in the negative shade. It further warned that the Western countries want to create disputes between India and China, while expressing the hope that Indian media will not become mere puppets in the hands of the Westerners.

Prior to the visit of Wang Yi, the Indian media had flashed news about China attempting to secure India’s cooperation in the ‘South china Sea’ dispute. The Indian media had remarked that China, the very country, which did not extend support to India on the ‘NSG’ membership issue, is now expecting support from India.