'Indo-Pak standoff may offset China's diplomatic gains'

Indo-Pak tensions can counter- balance China's diplomatic gains in South Asia and will divert Pakistan's attention from fighting militants, also linked to violence in Muslim-majority Xinjiang, a Chinese think tank has said.
"China will be disturbed by the standoff because Pakistan's attention and security resources will have to be shifted from fighting terrorist forces with ties to Xinjiang and China's diplomatic achievements in South Asia will probably be counter-balanced," said an article by Qian Feng, Councilor of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies.
It is extremely rare for Chinese analysts to accuse Pakistan for the presence of militants of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) on its soil, and link the violence in restive Xinjiang province to militants based in Pakistan.

Advising China to play a constructive role in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, Qian said, "China should take the advantage of the new heights of the Sino-Indian relationship and play a more constructive role in offering opportunities for both sides to reach reconciliation, which is also crucial to China's security strategy in its western regions."
Without directly naming Pakistan, the article published in the state-run Global Times today said that "South Asia has become the base of many terrorists and extremists".
"This region has seen Al-Qaeda launching its South Asian branch and the Pakistani Taliban pledging its allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group, which might serve as the new impetus to aggravate Pakistan-India ties," it said.

The Pakistan-India relationship is able to determine the trajectory of the regional political situation.

"However, troubled by old grudges and new concerns, especially terrorist threats, Pakistan and India are trapped in a vicious circle," it said.
"What is happening between Pakistan and India shows the world how continuously regressing country-to-country ties pose great threats to regional security.
"It is possible that both countries as well as the international community might feel pressured to take effective measures to draw Pakistan-India relations back on track," it said.