Pakistan, India should move toward negotiation: China

BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Office Spokesman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that India and Pakistan should move toward negotiation for the sake of conflict resolution.

The Chinese spokesman, in a press briefing, said that both India and Pakistan are two important South Asian counties and it is pertinent to have stable ties between them for regional peace.

The spokesman said that China hoped that India and Pakistan will exercise restraint and soon begin a dialogue process to resolve longstanding issues.

The already sour relations between India and Pakistan have worsened over the past week as New Delhi piled blame on Islamabad for the Pulwama attack. Pakistan's leadership has strongly refuted the allegations.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday offered to investigate the Pulwama attack and act if India shares "actionable intelligence with Pakistan".

"India accused Pakistan without any evidence and without thinking how this [attack] would benefit us," he stated. "Would even a fool consider sabotaging such an important [Saudi investment] conference?" the prime minister asked.

PM Imran continued, "We have been fighting against terrorism for the past 15 years. How will Pakistan benefit from such incidents?"

Stating, "I want to ask India if they want to keep living in the past", the premier said, "We want stability."

Some 44 Indian paramilitary personnel were killed last week when an explosives-packed van rammed a convoy transporting 2,500 security forces in Pulwama, in the deadliest attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir in 30 years.