Pak now hands China a ‘blank cheque’,India says no way

Rejecting any third party mediation in talks with Pakistan,India has made it clear that dialogue with Islamabad will only be at the bilateral level. Reacting to a statement by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that China had been given a “blank cheque” to adopt a role in Indo-Pak affairs,Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday said India did not believe in third party mediation.

Addressing the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing on Tuesday,Qureshi said Islamabad would welcome any role given to China to bring down tensions between India and Pakistan because of the trust and confidence it enjoyed with its close ally. “It is for the Indians to decide if they would be comfortable to have China talking as a third party to bridge the gap. As far as Pakistan is concerned,they (China) have a blank cheque,” he said at the Chinese think tank.

In response to queries on Qureshi’s statements,Antony said,“We are not in favour of involvement of any third country in our talks. It is only bilateral. Our basic policy is we don’t want interference from any country in our bilateral talks with Pakistan.”

Reacting to Qureshi’s comments,a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said India and Pakistan were both important,friendly neighbours of China. He said China supported and welcomed the improvement in relations between India and Pakistan and backed efforts to settle their outstanding issues through dialogue.

(With PTI,Beijing)