ISLAMABAD, June 22: China will play a balancing role for reducing tension between India and Pakistan, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Zang Chunxiang said here on Saturday.

Mr Zang was speaking at a luncheon reception hosted by President of Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party Fatehyab Ali Khan here at a local hotel.

“Our desire is that the troops on the borders be immediately withdrawn and both countries should resolve their differences through negotiations,” Mr Chunxiang said.

China, he added, was very much concerned about the prevailing tension between the two countries. “War is no solution of the problem,” he said, adding that both countries would suffer if they resorted to war.

“We want that India and Pakistan should start dialogue for resolving their problem,” Mr Zang said.

He said as far as China was concerned it had tried and was still trying to bring peace between India and Pakistan. The Chinese president talked to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in this regard, he added.

He said the Chinese foreign minister visited India and Pakistan and met his counterparts there to defuse tension between the two countries. He noted that the international community played its due role and the recent de-escalatory measures were the outcome of these efforts. He said Pakistan and India both were very important countries of South Asia, therefore it was imperative that for the sake of peace they should find out solution of their issues through negotiations.

Earlier, welcoming the Chinese ambassador, Fatehyab Ali Khan, praised China for its role in reducing tension between the two neighbours.

He said the root cause of tension in this region was that the people of Kashmir were not given their basic rights to decide their future.