A state-run Chinese daily on Monday cried foul over India’s move to extend enhanced compensation for victims of terror to people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The newspaper said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “lost patience and switched to the expected hardline tone of hostility”. Referring to Modi’s comments on Balochistan, an article in the state-run Global Times website said that the Indian Prime Minister is raising the issue to divert attention from the tense situation prevailing in Kashmir.
After reluctant attempts to revitalise Indo-Pak relations, Narendra Modi, now in his third year as Indian prime minister, has lost patience and switched to the expected hardline tone of hostility.Global Times, State Run Chinese News Daily
Describing the extension of Rs five lakh compensation to the victims of terrorism to people in PoK, as a “provocation”, the article said
More importantly, Kashmiris on the Pakistani side of the border can claim this compensation, too. This is not the only provocation. Another was his Independence Day address on 15 August.Global Times, State Run Chinese News Daily
The article on Global Times came after Modi’s remarks that people of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK were thanking him for raising human rights violations there. This is the first time Chinese official media referred to Modi’s remarks about PoK and Balochistan, where China is building USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
India has objected to the construction of this corridor as New Delhi claims that it is being built in a ‘disputed’ territory.
The article also claims that Modi’s views are not a reflection of everyone in Indian government but a small team of influential ministers who are ‘veterans’ of Indo-Pak ‘cold war’.
Analysts see the political push as coming from a small team filled by influential ministers and people who are the veterans of the ‘cold war’ with Pakistan. Some are members of the National Executive of the RSS. This risky gesture is not supported by everyone in the Indian government. Outstanding reservations come from his intelligence chiefs and the external affairs ministryGlobal Times, State Run Chinese News Daily
(With inputs from PTI)
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