Pak FM Qureshi arrives in Beijing to hold deliberations on Kashmir

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrived in Beijing on Friday morning. He is expected to hold meetings regarding the deliberations on the Kashmir issue.

The visit of the foreign minister comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir by New Delhi.

During the visit, Qureshi will be meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, State Counsellor, and other leaders.

"The visit was arranged in a very short time. That's why we are called iron brothers," deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Lijian Zhao, said on Twitter.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood is also accompanying Qureshi.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiralled after the Indian Parliament on Tuesday passed a resolution to revoke Article 370 and a bill bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.

Rattled by New Delhi's decisions, Islamabad "rejected" the move and said it will exercise "all possible options" to counter the steps.

Pakistan on Wednesday decided to downgrade bilateral ties with India and suspend all bilateral trade activities with the neighbouring country.

On its part, New Delhi asked Islamabad to review its decision so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved while strictly maintaining that its steps in Jammu and Kashmir are an "entirely internal affair".

China also opposed India's move saying it "undermined China's territorial sovereignty". Following this, New Delhi brushed off Beijing's statement maintaining that it is an "internal matter".