China welcomes Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's Pakistan visit

BEIJING: China today said improving ties between India and Pakistan was of paramount importance to peace and development in the region and offered its support to resolve bilateral disputes through peaceful dialogue.

Welcoming Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's recent visit to Islamabad, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the visit was a positive sign for improving relations.

"Both India and Pakistan are significant countries in South Asia," Hua said.

"We welcome the positive signs showing the improvement of bilateral relations which we believe is of paramount importance to peace, stability and development of this region," Hua told a media briefing here.

Islamabad was Jaishankar's third stop during his " SAARC yatra" after Thimphu and Dhaka.

He also visited Kabul to round-off the first leg of the yatra aimed at firming up India's ties with members of the grouping while reviewing regional and bilateral cooperation.

"The Chinese side will support the two sides in properly resolving relevant disputes through peaceful dialogue and improving bilateral relations as we always do," she said in response to question.

China is an observer in SAARC, but has been seeking entry into the regional grouping with support primarily from Pakistan.

Besides China, the US, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Mauritius, Australia and EU are SAARC observers.