Fighting back

Following the fierce attack made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Pakistan for allegedly being involved in terrorist action in Indian Occupied Kashmir, China has spoken out strongly in Pakistan's defence. Modi, in his latest attack on Pakistan – which comes days after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureishi and the DG ISPR released a dossier to members of the UN Security Council and other nations on Indian terrorist activity in Pakistan – had said that four Jaish-e-Muhammad activists had been apprehended in Occupied Kashmir with a cache of weapons, and were planning to carry out terrorist action there.

China has spoken out for Pakistan as a longstanding ally, and close friend of the country. It has strongly defended Pakistan's actions against terrorism, with the Chinese foreign minister stating that Pakistan had fought a valiant battle against terror and was continuing to do so. China also made it a point to say that CPEC would indeed go ahead and that Pakistan is making every effort to ensure that this important highway which is set to bring economic prosperity to the country and the region proceeds without hurdle. For a long time, there has been conjecture that India is extremely eager to sabotage CPEC and prevent Pakistan from benefiting from it. In addition, India's own relations with China are of course also strained.

Pakistan at the present time, needs friends to defend it against India and the aggressive tone adopted by the Indian government, as well as the actions taken by the Indian government in the form of repeated cross-border shelling, which has already claimed so many lives this year. In this sense, China's defence will be a welcome one. We hope that other nations join China in speaking out against unfounded Indian allegations levelled against Pakistan.

China's defence will of course be welcomed by Islamabad and brings the two countries even closer together. This is a good sign for the region as a whole. China and Pakistan together can put up a strong front against India and any other nations that are looking to work against CPEC. It is vital for Pakistan that this strong defence continues and spreads. CPEC of course has to be protected at all costs. If it can go through successfully, it has the potential to bring benefit to thousands of people in Pakistan by providing jobs and an improvement in trade and other businesses. The corridor is already underway; Chinese presence in the country is in place to help build it. India's latest attack seems to be a response to Pakistan's detailed evidence regarding Indian terrorist actions inside Pakistani soil. We hope that these will not be allowed to continue and that Pakistan and Chinese friendship will help stop India's actions on this front and on others.