Uri attack: Concerned China may talk to Pak about terror affecting CPEC

Beijing, Sep 19: China may take up with Pakistan the recurring terrorist attacks leading up to the assault on the army camp in Uri as Beijing is deeply concerned that growing Indo-Pak tensions will affect the future of the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an official Chinese think tank said today.

"It is an inhuman attack that should be condemned in strongest terms," Hu Shisheng, Director of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations affiliated to the Chinese Foreign Ministry said here while reacting to the attack on the army camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed and several injured.

Though he did directly speak about involvement of Pakistan-based militant groups, Hu, a strong proponent of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said China will and must take up with Pakistan about growing terrorist attacks as the violence is hardening New Delhi's stand towards the project which will effect it in the long run.

"China wants India and Pakistan to jointly counter terrorism. The larger aim of CPEC is regional development and it can't happen in a violent atmosphere," he said. He said tensions abated between India and Pakistan after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lahore last year.

But the Pathankot military base attack reversed the peace process. "The Pathankot attack has destroyed all the good atmosphere created by Modi's visit to Lahore," he said. "The new attack will further escalate India-Pakistan tensions which is not in the interest of the CPEC.

This may prompt India to harden its attitude against CPEC and it will impact its future," Hu said. India has already expressed concern over the CPEC project that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He said the immediate concern is also how the SAARC summit to be held in Pakistan in November will take place. The attack will also bring concerns on terrorism to the fore in next month's BRICS summit to be held in Goa, Hu said.

President Xi Jinping is due to attend the summit and hold talks with Modi on its sidelines.

PTI