Islamabad believes Beijing has right to intervene as SCO leader
By Shafqat Ali
Pakistan has asked China to keep up pressure on India for peace talks with Pakistan in the regional interest, diplomatic sources said. Senior officials at the foreign ministry told The Nation that Pakistan believed China had a role to play in the region as the spearhead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization along with Russia. One official said: “We have contacted China and welcomed their efforts for peace in the region, especially regarding Pak-India peace. It is in the interest of China that Pakistan and India live peacefully due to the massive (China’s) investments in the region. We have asked them (China) to keep up the pressure.”
He said: “In the coming years, China will play a role for Pak-India peace in its own interest and in the interest of the region.” This week, China’s envoy to India Luo Zhaohui informally pitched a summit among Pakistan, India and China under the SCO framework to improve regional relations. “Some Indian friends suggested that Pakistan, India and China may have some kind of trilateral summit on the sidelines of SCO. It’s a very constructive idea,” said Luo Zhaohui, at a seminar in New Delhi titled “Beyond Wuhan: How Far and Fast Can China-India Relations Go.”
The title of the seminar referred to the meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had in Wuhan, China in April. The envoy said China, Russia and Mongolia had a similar summit, so he sees no reason why Pakistan, India, and China cannot have such a summit. However, Zhaohui’s remarks were dismissed by the Indian external affairs ministry. “We have not received any such suggestion from the Chinese government. Matters related to India-Pakistan relations are purely bilateral in nature and have no scope for involvement of any third country,” the ministry said in a statement. This month, Pakistan, Russia and China formed an unofficial bloc on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Qingdao, vowing to work together in the coming years.
President Mamnoon Hussain, who represented Pakistan at the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines. A foreign ministry statement issued after the meeting had said: “The leaders agreed that the bilateral trade between the two nations has tremendous potential. They agreed to work together to further enhance economic ties and increase the trade volume.” In the recent months, both Moscow and Beijing had expressed optimism that the two nuclear armed-neighbours’ entry into the SCO could strengthen prospects for peace across the region.
Another official said that Pakistan had been proposing trilateral meetings on Kashmir engaging the United States and other influential countries to defuse tension in South Asia. “The Chinese ambassador to India has made a great offer. As we (Pakistan and India) have not been able to agree on any solution to the Kashmir issue in decades, it is the right time to engage other countries to find some solution,” he said. International relations expert Dr Pervez Iqbal Cheema said Pakistan has always shown willingness to the options of dialogue. “India is always running away. We welcome any mediation. The United States is supporting India to grab the bigger market. The influential countries must intervene to resolve Pak-India disputes for the sake of peace. China is a great friend (and can be helpful),” he said.
Defence analyst Dr Huma Baqai said that Islamabad has always emphasized on the importance of dialogue for the settlements of bilateral disputes. She said New Delhi was envious of the Pakistan-China economic collaboration, which was against the Indian hegemonic strategic designs. Baqai said that China was interested in Pak-India peace as it had invested billions of dollars on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects. “They (China) want a peaceful environment for the future. India must not doubt sincere efforts,” she maintained.
