China offers to help reduce Indo-Pak tensions after criticizing India

NEW DELHI: A Chinese government official reportedly said Beijing is ready to provide "full assistance" to resolve the conflict between its ally Pakistan, and India, a Pakistani TV channel reported late yesterday.

"We will try our level best to resolve the conflict between Pakistan and India. We are ready to provide our full assistance," said Yuwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's counsellor for China-Asia, according to channel24, a private TV channel in Pakistan.

The TV report mentioned the official by just one name, that is, Yuwan.

He reportedly also said there is an "imbalance of power" in South Asia currently, but he didn't specify what he meant.

"The hostility not only affects both states but also affects the entire South Asian region," Yuwan said.

Yuwan made these comments the same day that China's state-run media said India's move to completely seal its border with Pakistan was a " very irrational decision". Home Minister Rajnath Singh said last week that the 3,323 km-long border between India and Pakistan will be completely sealed by December 2018. This decision of India's, Global Times wrote, will further complicate India-China relations, because of Beijing's "all-weather" strategic ties with Islamabad.

Beijing's "all-weather strategic ties" include blocking a move to sanction Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar. They also include China building the $51 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor ( CPEC), which will pass through a restive Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK).

The fate of CPEC has come under a cloud lately. Last month, India conducted surgical strikes on seven terrorist camps in POK, in retaliation for a terror attack on an army brigade headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18. In addition, China is reportedly worried about the fate of CPEC in view of the general security situation there.

Addressing the CPEC issue, Yuwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's counsellor for China-Asia, said his country is fully resolved to complete the project.

"The project is a game changer and with cooperation of Pakistan, it will be accomplished," Yuwan said.