Beijing: With China blaming recent attacks in Xinjiang on extremists trained in Pakistan-based terror camps, Islamabad has promised to help its all-weather ally fight Uyghur militants in the far-western frontier region and proposed “integrated border management” to address the issue. Pakistan and China are “entwined so closely that any move to hurt China’s security in Xinjiang hurts us simultaneously,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to Beijing Masood Khan told a seminar here on Friday.
“Our two countries will continue to fight the ETIM, (East Turkistan Islamic Movement). Our solidarity in this regard is rock solid. No country or force can drive a wedge between us,” he said, according to Pakistan’s state-run APP news agency.
Khan’s comments came against the backdrop of allegations by the municipal government in Kashghar in Xinjiang that leaders of ETIM who carried out the attacks in the city close to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) last month were trained in terror camps in Pakistan. This was the first allegation by China in the five-decade long strategic ties between the two countries and was seen as open expression of China’s disappointment in Pakistan’s efforts to help it contain separatist ETIM militants in Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uyghur community.
“China’s policy of developing its Western region, especially Xinjiang, offers a historic opportunity for bringing Pakistan and China even closer and using Kashgar and Khorgos as launching pads for the modern day Silk Road,” Khan said. (PTI)