China on Sunday said it supported Pakistan’s “quest for peace through dialogue” to settle the outstanding disputes with India as it backed Islamabad’s “engagement” with the Nuclear Suppliers group (NSG).
A joint statement, issued here after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, said that China backed Pakistan’s efforts to improve ties with India to settle “outstanding disputes”, without directly mentioning the Kashmir issue.
“China appreciates Pakistan’s quest for peace through dialogue, cooperation and negotiation, on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and supports Pakistan’s efforts for improvement of Pakistan-India relations and for settlement of outstanding disputes between the two countries,” the joint statement said.
On the Kashmir issue, China’s oft repeated stand was that it should be resolved peacefully through dialogue.
“The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to multilateral, non-discriminatory arms control and non-proliferation endeavours,” the joint statement said.
“They noted with concern the continued pursuit of double standards in the application of non-proliferation norms and procedures and called for policies upholding rule of law and long-standing rules,” it added.
China also heaped praise on Pakistan for its efforts to counter terrorism and said it recognised Islamabad’s efforts in actively strengthening financial regulations to combat terrorism financing, and called on all relevant parties to view Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in an objective and fair manner.
“The Pakistani side reaffirmed its support to the Chinese side in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, and combating separatism, terrorism and extremism including East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM),” the statement said.
On the USD 60 billion CPEC, the statement said China and Pakistan have “complete consensus” ruling out differences.
“The two sides reaffirmed their complete consensus on the future trajectory of the CPEC, timely completion of its ongoing projects and joint efforts for realisation of its full potential with a focus on socio-economic development” the statement said.