BEIJING, December.4 (INP): India's unilateral abolition of the autonomous status of Kashmir violates the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, thus fundamentally shaking the basis for India and Pakistan to negotiate the settlement of the disputed territory, said Chinese scholar Cheng Xizhong.

The practice of India has not merely intensified the tension between the two countries,  but also undermined the peace and stability in South Asia. Even worse, India has arbitrarily marked a vast area of China's territory in the western part of the China-India border under its administrative jurisdiction, which has seriously violated China's territorial sovereignty. This is illegal, unacceptable and invalid, he added.

Cheng Xizhong, who is also special commentator of China Economic Net further said, under such circumstances, we must adhere to the principles, uphold justice and fairness, because it has violated the territorial sovereignty of both China and Pakistan.

In the past 70 years since independence, India and Pakistan have had two wars and many serious military confrontations over the Kashmir issue. History has proved that military means cannot solve the Kashmir issue, neither war of words. China, he said is committed to peace and stability in South Asia and does not want to see any sort of armed conflict or a full-scale war between India and Pakistan again. The Kashmir issue has become a dead knot between India and Pakistan. Cheng made few suggestions to get solved the issue. Some important development is required to this effect, first some historical problems may be put on hold for the time being. Deng Xiaoping put forward the idea of “Pursuing joint development while shelving disputes" in 1980s and, eight years later was accepted by India.

History has proved that was a right choice. In the past 31 years since 1988, China and India have enjoyed expansive cooperation and rapid development with bilateral trade grown by nearly 1000 times. The two sides needed to normalize their relations in the first step, taking the path of common development. Second, the solution of historical problems shall come naturally, and the persistent mindset of solving it right now would lead to a war. The Kashmir dispute is the bane of colonial rule. Procrastinating the settlement of historical problems provides adequate time for the two countries to focus on more important things, and conceive a more reasonable solution in the future. Third, at present, India and Pakistan are facing the common task of economic development and poverty eradication. Though India and Pakistan are two major economies in South Asia, their bilateral trade is only 2.4 billion U.S. dollars. With the rapid development of the CPEC presenting a rare golden opportunity, Pakistan's economic development should be on a fast track. He was of the view that the overall improvement of Pakistan's comprehensive national strength and power status is conducive to the balance of power in South Asia, thus conducive to the peace and stability of South Asia and the final reasonable settlement of the Kashmir issue.

INP/JAVED