Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the state-run People’s Daily on Tuesday that Beijing supported the efforts of both India and Pakistan to defuse tensions and manage differences through dialogue, during a particular conflict between the two countries this year, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported. However, Wang did not expressly clarify which conflict he was talking about.
“During the India-Pakistan conflict, China supported the efforts of the two sides to defuse tensions and manage differences through dialogue,” Wang said, perhaps referring to the Pulwama attack in February that killed 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, and India’s subsequent strike on terror camps in Pakistan’s Balakot. He was responding to a question about China’s achievements in neighborhood diplomacy this year.
Wang added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a successful second summit in Chennai in October. Wang said the summit had “charted the course for the steady growth of China-India relations”. At the summit, Modi had said the Wuhan summit last year had led to a “new momentum and trust” in India-China relations, and that the “Chennai connect” would be the start of a new era in India-China cooperation.
“China has served as a mediator between Myanmar and Bangladesh to encourage a negotiated solution to their outstanding issues,” Wang added, perhaps in reference to the Rohingya refugee matter.
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