In the wake of the air strikes conducted by the Indian Air Force deep inside Pakistan obliterating the Jaish-e-Muhammad camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chikhoti, India’s eastern neighbour China, considered as Pakistan’s all-weather ally has asked the arch-enemies Pakistan and India to exercise ‘restraint’ amidst the soaring tensions after the IAF avenged the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel martyred in the Pulwama attack.
China’s Foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said, “We expect India and Pakistan both to exercise restraint and adopt confidence-building measures to ensure stability in the region and improve mutual relations.” China has advocated diplomatic talks instead of military belligerence to bridge the differences between India and Pakistan and has urged them to resolve their issues amicably.
Kang also stated that both India and Pakistan are both important countries in South Asia. He added that a sound relationship and cooperation between the two serves the interests of both countries.
China, one of the closest allies of Pakistan has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan to develop its envisaged China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Much lies at stake for the Chinese to let the region slip into a turmoil by advocating escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan.
The IAF had conducted the operation in the pre-dawn hours on February 26, 2019. 12 Mirage-2000 fighter jets had flown into Pakistan across the International Border and dropped bombs weighing 1000Kg each destroying multiple terror camps. The terror camp in Balakot, identified as the Alpha-3 terror camp of Jaish-e-Muhammad was operated by the JeM chief Masood Azhar’s brother-in-law Maulana Yusuf Azhar. It is believed that he has been killed in the air strikes. Several top Jaish commanders and terrorists are also reported to have been killed in the attack, with casualties ranging between 200 to 300.