China denies troops presence Gilgit-Baltistan area

CHINA-INDOPAK

K J M Varma
Beijing, Sep 2 (PTI) China has rejected reports of the
presence of upto 11,000 of its troops in the Gilgit area of
Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, saying that such "groundless"
reports were being put out with "ulterior motives" to hurt
Beijing's ties with New Delhi and Islamabad.
"We believe the attempts of some people to fabricate
stories to provoke China-Pakistan or China-India relations are
doomed to fail," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu
in a brief statement late Wednesday night, which was
circulated by the state-run Xinhua newsagency.
The comment came in response to a report in the New
York Times on August 28 that China had deployed more than
10,000 troops in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
The text of the statement was not available on the
Foreign Ministry website. China is issuing stapled visas to
those travelling to the country from the Jammu and Kashmir
region, on the ground that it was "disputed" and had declined
to give visa to Indian Army's Northern Command chief, Lt Gen B
S Jaswal to join a military delegation for a high-level visit.
The visa denial to the General prompted India to put
off all military exchanges with China in protest until the
issue gets resolved.
The denial of Chinese troops presence came from
Pakistan Ambassador to China, Masood Khan on Wednesday, who
while refuting reports said that 'a humanitarian team' from
China is present in the Gilgit area to assist the flood
victims.
"The story is not true and totally fabricated," he
told Chinese state-run Global Times daily.
Khan said there are no Chinese troops in the area,
but a humanitarian team from China is currently there to carry
out relief operations.
The NYT report attributed the military presence to
China's plans to gain a "grip on the strategic area to ensure
unfettered road and rail access to the Gulf through Pakistan."
PTI KJV
RBT


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