China not to invest in Pak-occupied Kashmir, for now

(TibetanReview.net, Feb25, 2010) China has, for now, decided to avoid actions like investing in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) in order not to hamper the proposed India-Pakistan peace talks, reported the Times of India online Feb 22. “China does not want to invest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Chinese government knows Kashmir is a sensitive issue and a disputed area,” Ma Jaili, senior researcher at the State-run Institute of Contemporary International Relations, was quoted as saying.

India had earlier protested against China’s plans to invest in dam and road-building projects in POK. The report cited Indian foreign ministry officials as saying they had picked up similar signals suggesting that China was not interested in any deterioration in India-Pakistani relations at this time.

The reason was stated to be Beijing’s greater concern about the unstable political situation within Pakistan and in Afghanistan partly because the Taliban exerts some influence over rebels in occupied Xinjiang in western PRC.

US president Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan was reported to have made the security situation in Pakistan more serious.

The report emerged as Pakistan’s foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi held talks with Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi on Feb 22 and was scheduled to meet premier Wen Jiabao on Feb 23. He was reported to be seeking China’s advice on the upcoming London conference on Afghanistan and the proposed peace dialogue with India.