ISLAMABAD: The Chinese government applauded Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts on Friday just a few hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that his administration had neutralized four terrorists belonging to a Pakistan-based proscribed militant faction that wanted to “wreak major havoc” in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.
The Indian prime minister’s statement was rejected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad that said it had “consistently sensitized the international community about the possibility of India resorting to yet another false flag operation” in Kashmir to vilify Pakistan.
According to the local media, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said that his country opposed terrorism “in all manifestations” and deplored “double standards” in counterterrorism when asked about a recent news conference by senior Pakistani officials in which they unveiled a dossier pertaining to “Indian-sponsored terrorism” in the region.
After Modi’s assertion that his country’s security forces had apprehended Jaish-e-Mohammed militants who wanted to target “grassroots level democratic exercises in Jammu and Kashmir,” the Chinese official reiterated Beijing’s appreciation for Pakistan’s anti-terrorism efforts and warned that any attempt to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was “doomed to fail.”
China appreciates the positive contribution by Pakistan to the international counter-terrorism cause, firmly supports Pakistan in cracking down terrorist forces. Attempts that aim to sabotage #CPEC are doomed to fail. pic.twitter.com/IQyGgwkVCw
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) November 20, 2020
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi recently announced in a joint news conference with the spokesperson of the military’s media wing, ISPR, that Islamabad had “irrefutable evidence” of India’s “sponsorship of terrorism” in his country which it was going to present to the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
“India has stepped up anti-Pak propaganda following presentation of dossier by Pakistan providing irrefutable evidence of India’s state-sponsorship of terrorism,” the foreign office said in a Twitter post.
It also urged the world community to act on the evidence provided by Pakistan and asked India to “renounce terrorism as an instrument of state policy.”