Beijing: China has called for a “swift and fair investigation” into the Pahalgam terror attack and expressed support for its all-weather ally Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests amid Islamabad’s rising tensions with India.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday held a telephonic conversation with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Dar briefed Wang — also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee — on the latest tensions between Pakistan and India “following a terrorist attack in the Kashmir region”, it said in the report.
For his part, Wang said China was closely following the developments, stressing that combating terrorism was a shared responsibility of the entire world while reaffirming Beijing’s consistent support for Pakistan’s firm counter-terrorism efforts, it added.
“As an ironclad friend and an all-weather strategic cooperative partner, China fully understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and supports Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests,” the report quoted Wang as saying.
“China advocates for a swift and fair investigation and believes that conflict does not serve the fundamental interests of either India or Pakistan, nor does it benefit regional peace and stability,” Wang noted.
China hopes both sides will remain restrained, move toward each other, and work together to de-escalate the situation, he added.
Dar emphasised that Pakistan had consistently and firmly fought terrorism and was against any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation, according to the report.
The news agency reported that Dar said Pakistan is committed to managing the situation maturely and will maintain communication with China and the international community.
On April 23, China “strongly condemned” the brutal terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
China enjoyed tactical mobility and flexibility vis-à-vis India as it was deployed on the Tibetan plateau.
On the Indian side, there were tactical objectives like Leh or Tawang, while on the Tibetan side, there were no tactical or strategic objectives that India could threaten in retaliation,n with the possible exception of Chumbi valley.
From the Tibetan border, most Indian strategic targets like capital Delhi or Indo Gangetic plains were within the range of medium range ballistic missile (MRBMs), while China’s strategic targets on the Pacific Sea board could only be targeted by Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM’s) or Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
Politically, India had no claims on Tibetan territory while China claimed Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
The only strategic advantage India has is in shorter lines of logistics.
Much water has flowed down the Brahmaputra since that time and some major changes have taken place in the situation. India has built up border communications and has improved its tactical mobility and China has built a railway line to improve its logistics. Both these measures have indeed modified the military situation and reduced the asymmetry. Nonetheless, it will be fair to say that the basic issues remain, China still has better tactical mobility and India’s logistics is still far better.
Sumdorong Chu incident in 1986-87 and more recent Galwan clash and subsequent Indian response have shown how India can exploit its shorter lines of communication to check mate the Chinese.
It is doubtful if China ‘really’ has any territorial ambitions vis a vis India, despite the belligerent rhetoric and newly minted term ‘Southern Tibet’ to describe and lay claim to Arunachal Pradesh. Militarily, China is well placed in Ladakh and its Sinkiang-Tibet road link has enough depth.
China is well aware that in the given military balance, Leh in the North is beyond its grasp. Capture of Arunachal Pradesh is also beyond its military means nor can it be occupied without prohibitive cost. 1962 military debacle in Arunachal Pradesh was an aberration and a result of local military failure. A situation not likely to repeat itself. Whenever China boasts of repeating 1962, it should be reminded of the hard time it had inthat war in Ladakh and even in Walong.
