China Plugs into India-Pakistan Conflicts as Peacemaker
NSA Ajit Doval, China FM Wang Yi, Pakistan FM Ishaq Dar (Image credit X.com)
India-Pakistan Tensions Throw up Military and Geostrategic Challenges
By MANISH ANAND
NEW DELHI, May 11, 2025 – Fragile India-Pakistan ceasefire, stated to be understood and not agreed upon, bears thick Chinese imprints. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dialed up India and Pakistan to argue the case for a ceasefire.
The Chinese readout of Wang’s phone call with Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, urged Islamabad “to make a decision that is in line with Pakistan’s fundamental and long-term interests”.
“Under the current tense situation, it is believed that Pakistan will do a good job in ensuring the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions in Pakistan,” Wang further told Dar per the Chinese readout of the conversation.
The New York Times and CNN in their reports on reasons for the ceasefire also hinted at the Chinese factor in defusing India-Pakistan tensions. CNN in its report claimed that ‘an alarming intelligence shared by the US hastened India to agree for a ceasefire”. The NYT in its report said: “Several countries with close ties to both India and Pakistan, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, had been working for days to try to cool the conflict.”
The NYT in another report stated that “the most significant causes for concern came late Friday, when explosions hit the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the garrison city adjacent to Islamabad.”
“The base is a key installation, one of the central transport hubs for Pakistan’s military and the home to the air refueling capability,” added the daily. It stated also that the “the airbase is also just a short distance from the headquarters of Pakistan’s Strategic Plans Division” in close vicinity of nuclear arsenal stockpile.
CNN’s report also had suggestions of intelligence linked to nuclear capabilities of Pakistan. It’s not immediately known if Wang spoke to his US counterpart Marco Rubio. But China has warm relations with Saudi Arabia, which also silently worked for a truce between two South Asian nations.
Dawn, a leading Pakistani daily, highlighted Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s address to the nation, where he emphasized commitment to the ceasefire. Sharif also “thanked mediators like Saudi Arabia and China”.
Geopolitical observers are also spotlighting the role of Chinese fighter jets in India-Pakistan conflicts. Some of them even hinted that China tested some of its weapons through Pakistan in the short conflicts.
“Accept inevitability of USA and China as pivots in escalation matrix,” said Lt. Gen (Retd) KJ Singh, while reflecting on challenges thrown by the short India-Pakistan conflicts.
Experts note that China effectively plugged into India-Pakistan tensions and carved out a role for Beijing. Until the Kazan Summit last year between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of BRICS, India and China had frozen bilateral relations in the aftermath of the 2020 violent Galwan skirmish between the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army of China.
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