India’s decision to completely seal its border with Pakistan by 2018 has raised eyebrows in Chinese media.
The state run Global times, in an article, has termed the move ‘irrational’ that would further complicate India-China relations.
The article says that India’s decision will have an impact on Sino-Indian relations in view of China’s “all-weather” strategic ties with Pakistan.
"India is making a very irrational decision, since no exhaustive investigation has been conducted after the Uri incident, and no evidence proves Pakistan is behind the attack," Hu Zhiyong, a scholar at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying by Global Times.
"The country's decision reflects its Cold War mentality, and would only cause deeper hatred among residents living in Indian and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir," he added.
Advocating a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, Hu said that India’s move would further create problems for border trade and talks between India and Pakistan.
"A completely sealed border would further hinder the already scarce border trade and talks between the two countries. Since Pakistan is China's all-weather strategic partner, India's decision would make China-Pakistan-India relations more complicated," he said.
Another Chinese expert Wang Dehua, director of the Institute for Southern and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, pointed out that a sealed border would only disrupt peace efforts made by the two sides.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced on Friday that he 3,323 km long India-Pakistan border would be completely sealed by December 2018.
