HONG KONG, August 9: : China is gravely concerned about situation in occupied Kashmir, senior diplomat Wang Yi said on Friday, following a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Foreign Ministry said.
Wang added that China would continue to support Pakistan to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, the ministry said in a statement.
China urged India and Pakistan to avoid unilateral actions, and seek a new path of peaceful coexistence, Wang said.
Qureshi reached Beijing earlier in the day to apprise Chinese leadership of Pakistan’s concerns and reservations about the unconstitutional measures taken by the Indian government and the aggression shown by the occupational forces. On Monday, India stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order.
By repealing Article 370 of the constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to acquire property in IOK and settle there permanently.
Internet and telephone connections in occupied Kashmir have been cut since Monday and a curfew imposed as the authorities feared trouble when the decision was announced.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has called on India “to refrain from taking steps that could affect the status of Jammu and Kashmir.”-Agencies