As India and Pakistan continue to crash over their differences over Kashmir Valley, Countries such as the US and Turkey has already staged their interests to becoming mediators over the row. News that China is also contesting to be the mediator has raised skeptics that China could eyeing the position so as to further her interests in the India-Pakistan territory. A few questions arise as to why Chine besides having occupied a fair share of Pakistan’s contested land could still fairly mediate between them. As evidenced by the Chinese Communist Party’s spokesman, Chinese are now determined to take over the mediation over the problem of Kashmir Valley. This position has been defended by the report citing China as a country that has always adhered to the principle of non- interference in the internal affairs of other countries but being neighbors to India and Pakistan; cannot allow them to continue conflicting. Apparently, China has a lot of investments based in India and Pakistan and would like the issues of Kashmir Valley solved in a way that China’s investments in these two countries are not negatively imparted. It is even citing on mediation experience it has acquired having mediated recently between Myanmar and Bangladesh and thus perhaps the best candidate to engage in conflicts surrounding the regional affairs in South Asia and South East Asia.
Many critics are optimistic that indeed China stands the best country to mediate considering the advantages of being a close neighbor and therefore having an influence both in cultural and economic in some regions of Southern Asia countries. However, this influence lacks in South Asia and thus raises mistrust as to whether it has the capacity to represent the two sides unbiased. But the most contentious issue is the occupation of China in part of Jammu and Kashmir approximated at 37,420 square kilometers of Aksai Chin in Ladakh. Allegedly, China acquired this portion from Pakistan in a bilateral agreement signed in 1963; a thing that the India side perceives as illegitimate and contributing largely to the Kasmir valley dispute. Based on this, Beijing stands the better chance on one hand if their acquisition of Jammu will be addressed in the mediation but on the other hand are barriers, in a scenario that India will not be willing to accept Pakistan’s bilateral agreement with China.
More so, China has been gradually getting more influence even to other territories that have been acquired illegally owing to its expanded economic activities where China’s infrastructural projects have continued to dominate in the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor project; notably, both economically as well as administrative where minimal military influence is seen in some parts. In the event that China are interested to mediate by the virtue of owing massive investments amounting to $62 billion in Pakistan, Indians will revolt since they would like a neural party intending to end cease fire and terrorism activities in Indian borders. It is also believed that China ought to stop mediation of smaller countries and rather concentrate on Indian’s concerns like stopping the blocking attempts to designate Maulana Massod Azhar of the Jaish-e-Mohammad as a terrorist by United Nations.