China doesn't believe in balancing ties

China does not follow a policy of “strategic equilibrium” in South Asia, said a commentary in state-run China Daily, which argued that while economic and trade was the “driving force” in ties with India, it was “strategic partnership” that boosted relations with Pakistan.

Analysing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's recent visit to New Delhi and Islamabad, the commentary stressed that China's policy is not to pursue "strategic equilibrium" between India and Pakistan, with Beijing looking at relations between the two neighbours differently.

“It is not China's policy to pursue strategic equilibrium in South Asia," Fu Xiaoqiang, a researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an official think tank, wrote. The view has been seen as a rare attempt by China to state that it would not pursue a policy to bal-ance its relations between India and its close strategic ally Pakistan.