China media tweets about Pak ‘downing 2 Indian aircraft’; was mum after IAF raids on Tuesday

Beijing, Feb 27: As tension soared between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 and the air raids by the Indian Air Force across the LoC on February 26, experts were keen to learn about China's position. Beijing has been an all-weather friend of Pakistan and has repeatedly blocked India's initiative to get Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar designated as a global terrorist, upsetting New Delhi.

China's biggest newspaper People's Daily on Wednesday, February 27, tweeted saying: "China hopes India and Pakistan will exercise restraint and take actions to help stabilize the situation in South Asia, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wed following reports that the Pakistan Army shot down two Indian fighter jets."

Interestingly, the same daily had not tweeted anything related to the IAF's cross-border raids made early on Tuesday though Beijing urged India to fight terrorism through "international cooperation" hours after the operation.

The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Wednesday that one of India's pilots went missing after a Mig-21 Bison fighter jet was lost during an engagement with Pakistani fighters after they violated the Indian airspace. Pakistan though claimed to have captured two Indian pilots, saying one of them was in the hospital.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday addressed the nation saying if India could go to Pakistan, it could also come to India. "All wars are miscalculated, and no one knows where they lead to," he said.