From K J M Varma
Beijing:Voicing concern over the “strains” in Indo-Pak ties after the Uri terror attack, China today appealed to the two countries to exercise “restraint” and engage in more dialogue to “properly” deal with disputes while remaining committed to regional peace and stability.

“Recent violent clashes and attacks caused some casualties and strains in India-Pakistan relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told media briefing here.

“We are concerned about that. We hope all relevant parties can exercise restraint and avoid escalating tensions,” he said about the Sunday attack on an army camp at Uri in Kashmir in which 18 soldiers were killed and several injured.

He was replying to a question about India’s charge that the Uri incident was a cross border terrorist attack from Pakistan, and Islamabad’s allegation that New Delhi is trying to divert attention from tensions in Kashmir.

In a guarded reply, Lu said “regarding counter terrorism our position is consistent. We oppose all forms of terrorism and believe in enhanced international cooperation to deal with this threat” and safeguard peace.

“Both India and Pakistan are important regional countries and we hope they have more dialogue and properly deal with disputes and remain committed to peace, stability and security of the region,” he said.

This is the second time China reacted to the Uri attack.

On September 19, Lu appealed to India and Pakistan to have dialogue and consultation to resolve their differences and “enhance counter terrorism cooperation”.

“Only this way can they safeguard peace,” he said.

About today’s meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Foreign Ministers in New York on sidelines of UN General Assembly – where they called for early conclusion of the negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention against terrorism, Lu said BRICS countries met to discuss international and regional issues of common interest including the convention on terrorism.

“We believe BRICS will work together and follow this consensus and push forward our common goals,” he said.

PTI