BEIJING, June 1: China attaches great hope to Almaty’s moot to help de-escalate the tension between India and Pakistan, said Li Hui, director-general of Central Asian affairs department in the Chinese Foreign Office.

He told APP that China would use its influence to bring the two countries on negotiating table to settle their disputes through peaceful means.

He said President Jiang Zemin in his address to the conference on interaction and confidence building measures in Asia (CICA) at Almaty and during his bilateral meetings on the occasion will elaborate China’s stand on Indo-Pakistan standoff.

Li expressed his hope that the declaration to be issued by the CICA would also touch upon the issues relating to the tension. Leaders from 16 Asian countries, including President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will attend the day-long summit, being held on June 4.

Meanwhile, a cross-section of the Chinese people have expressed their deep concern over threats of war against Pakistan, and wished to stand by Pakistan in its hour of trial and tribulation.

“We consider Pakistan as our true friend and we can not leave it alone at time of any crisis,” said Li Wang, a social worker and businessman.

He hoped Pakistan would emerge successful in defending itself against any foreign aggression.

Talking to this correspondent, he said the Chinese government and the people fully supported Pakistan’s efforts to resolve its disputes with India through peaceful means. They, he added, highly praised President Musharraf for his sagacity and statesmanship in dealing with the present crisis with utmost restraint.

Another resident, Zhang Lie, said there should be no illusion about China’s support to Pakistan at this difficult time. He, however, said that China, being a peace-loving country, wished that there should be no war between the two nuclear rivals, as it could bring devastation to both of them. He expressed his hope that a better sense would prevail and the moderate forces in both the countries would ultimately dominate, paving the way for peace.

A doctor, who wished not to be named, said that the Chinese people were happy over the recent missile tests, as those were testimony to the fact that Pakistan was strong enough to defend itself. He observed that India has adopted threatening posture just to pressure Pakistani to give up its support to the just cause of Kashmir. India, he added, would never go for war as it could be a step having catastrophic consequences.

A schoolteacher said China would never like to see Pakistan in difficult conditions.

A member of Chinese Research Institute said that China supported Pakistan’s stand for resolution of the Kashmir problem, which, he said, was a major cause of the on-going conflict. He expressed his hope that the International community would adopt a fair attitude exerting its influence on India giving a positive response to the offer of talks and other peace initiatives taken by Pakistan.

He said it would be in the interest of both the countries to resolve their long-standing disputes for a lasting peace and strengthening their fight against poverty.

The Chinese media also supports the contention that without the solution of the Kashmir problem, there could be no peace and normalization of relations between India and Pakistan.

The English-language The China daily in its recent edition observes that resolution of the Kashmir issue is the only way out to avert the danger of war, bringing to an end the hostility between India and Pakistan.

Another major newspaper, the People’s Daily in its commentary on the issue on Thursday said that due to the influence of various internal and external factors, India and Pakistan needed to exert greater efforts for the solution of the Kashmir issue.

It says: “Although the present India-Pakistan conflict enshrines the presentation of attacks on religious extremists and terrorists, the long-standing unresolved Kashmir issue, however, remains the root cause of the conflict.

The Kashmir question is the most sensitive link in the chain of Indian-Pakistani contradiction and is the core of disputes between the two countries.”

A spokesman of the foreign ministry also endorsed the view that the solution of the Kashmir problem was pre-requisite to ensure peace. He said China was prepared to play an active role in helping the two countries resolve the dispute peacefully.—APP