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Anil K Joseph in Beijing
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday assured his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin that he would do his 'best' to ease tensions with India and not to initiate a war in south Asia.
"Pakistan does not want to be involved in a war and will not start a war," Musharraf told Jiang during their one-hour meeting in Beijing on Friday, Xinhua reported.
Musharraf, who arrived on Friday morning after visiting Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, told Jiang that Islamabad will 'do its best to realise regional peace and stability'.
Jiang, who is also the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China, said Beijing hopes the Pakistan and India would 'settle their dispute peacefully through dialogue'.
"China supports all efforts to alleviate the tension between Pakistan and India and to safeguard peace and stability in South Asia," Jiang said during his second meeting with Musharraf within two months.
The two presidents had met on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Almaty in June.
Musharraf also briefed Jiang on the latest domestic situation in Pakistan and gave views on the issues concerning south Asia and Afghanistan, the report said.
Jiang also spoke highly of the relations between China and Pakistan.
"Over the past five decades since the two established diplomatic relations, China and Pakistan have respected, understood and supported each other, and bilateral ties are time-tested," Jiang said.
The policies Pakistan has adopted since September 11 terrorist attacks are 'firm and clear', and China appreciates them very much, Jiang said.
Jiang and Musharraf also discussed the situation in Afghanistan where the US forces are conducting operations against the remaining Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists.
"China has been concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and supports the process of peace and reconstruction there," Jiang told Musharraf.
Afghanistan faces a number of difficulties and challenges on the path toward lasting peace, Jiang said.
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been expressing serious concern over the continuing military standoff between India and Pakistan and has been urging New Delhi and Islamabad to resume dialogue on all issues, including Kashmir.
The Chinese stand on the Indo-Pak tension was once again restated by Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who met External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum meetings in Brunei.
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