China on Wednesday expressed concern over escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan, urging both nuclear-armed neighbours to exercise restraint following New Delhi’s missile strikes against targets in Pakistan.
Beijing stated it regretted India’s military action, calling the situation “a matter of concern.”
Early Wednesday, India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested border after India launched missile strikes on what it described as terror camps across the Line of Control.
Pakistan reported that the Indian strikes killed at least 26 people, while India claimed that retaliatory Pakistani shelling killed three civilians on its side of the de facto border in Kashmir.
“India and Pakistan are neighbours that cannot be moved apart—and they are also China’s neighbours,” said a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry in an official statement.
China, which shares land borders with both nations, is a longstanding ally of Pakistan and a principal backer of its Belt and Road Initiative.
At the same time, Beijing maintains a complicated and often tense relationship with India, marked by a protracted border dispute.
“China opposes all forms of terrorism,” the statement added, while calling on both countries to prioritise peace and regional stability.
“We urge both India and Pakistan to remain calm and restrained, and to avoid actions that could further escalate the situation.”
The renewed conflict comes at a time when China has been seeking to stabilise relations with India as part of a wider diplomatic effort to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries and counter mounting geopolitical pressure from the United States.
China remains Pakistan’s largest arms supplier, accounting for 81 percent of the country’s weapons imports over the past five years, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, as cited by CNN.