Nuanced Chinese response to Pakistan's plea on Pahalgam
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating that the harshest of responses awaits the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam massacre—and their entire ecosystem—there is widespread expectation of a major kinetic action. The drumbeats of retaliation have begun. However, some nations like China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are trying to dial down the tension.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi nuanced his response while taking a call from his Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Ishaq Dar, hoping both sides would exercise restraint while advocating a swift and fair investigation. Just a few days ago, China had supported Pakistan in softening a UN Security Council resolution on the Pahalgam savagery, whose final draft called it a reprehensible act of terrorism.
Pakistan lobbied hard with the US to purge the draft of any mention of The Resistance Force (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba, which had claimed responsibility for the attack, citing lack of evidence. As if on cue, the TRF retracted its earlier statement and aligned itself with Pakistan’s official line shortly after the UNSC adopted the final resolution without naming the perpetrator.
While Wang said he supports Islamabad in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, Beijing is increasingly wary of its all-weather friend’s ability to provide security to the thousands of Chinese nationals deployed in different projects across Pakistan. Quite a few of them have been targeted by rebels of various hues operating with impunity, thumbing nose at the country’s military establishment.
Going by the Uri and Pulwama precedents, the scale of India’s kinetic response would determine if it can avoid civilians and foreigners as collateral damage, the Chinese included.
On the positive side, Beijing greenlighted the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from June, after a gap of nearly five years when bilateral relations were in a deep freeze following the Ladakh incursion and the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan.
Besides, it is looking at the Indian market to absorb a sizeable chunk of its exports that have been disrupted by Trumpian tariffs. Also, the contours of a ‘naya Kashmir’ (new Kashmir) appeared to emerge after the Pahalgam brutality as the entire J&K observed a spontaneous bandh condemning the attack—for the first time in over three decades.
If this dissonance contributes to sucking the oxygen out of the terror ecosystem in the valley, the sacrifice of the 26 people in Pahalgam would not go in vain.