China on Thursday urged India and Pakistan to cease hostilities and lower tensions, stressing that the two South Asian “neighbors cannot be moved away.”
“China is concerned about the current development of the situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a news conference, referring to rising tensions between India and Pakistan.
“India and Pakistan are neighbors that cannot be moved away, and they are also China’s neighbors,” the spokesman said, adding that Beijing is willing to help defuse the current conflict, according to a written script of the conference posted on the ministry’s website.
“China opposes all forms of terrorism and calls on India and Pakistan to prioritize peace and stability, abide by the UN Charter and other international laws, remain calm and restrained, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the situation,” he added.
Tensions escalated this week after India announced “Operation Sindoor” late Tuesday night, saying it struck “terrorist infrastructure at nine locations” in Pakistan.
New Delhi said it exercised its “right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.”
Pakistan said 31 people were killed in the Indian missile attacks and cross-border firing, and vowed to retaliate.
Pakistan’s military spokesman, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said on Thursday that the forces neutralized 29 Israeli-made Harop drones fired by India overnight, calling it a “serious provocation.”
He said three people were killed and four Pakistani soldiers were injured in the drone attacks.
Meanwhile, the Indian Defense Ministry said at least 16 people, including three women and five children, have so far been killed in Pakistani forces’ firing along the Line of Control, the de facto border, in Jammu and Kashmir.
An Indian soldier was also killed in cross-border fire, the military said on Wednesday night.
It was not immediately clear whether the soldier was among the 16 casualties reported by the ministry.
