China invites Mirwaiz. Revenge for Dalai’s Arunachal visit?

China has not wasted time getting into action on the India-Pakistan front. It has sent an invite to separatist Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, days after the Sino-US statement of working together for peace in South Asia between India and Pakistan.
New Delhi is playing it cool with foreign minister SM Krishna saying on Friday that “Mirwaiz is free to travel wherever he wants.” The ministry of external affairs encouraged such visits whether these were to “Pakistan or China.”

But there is a catch. “He will certainly go, so long as the visa issued to him is stamped on his passport like that of every Indian citizen. If the Chinese decide to staple his visa as was done in case of some people travelling from Kashmir, he will be stopped,” a senior official said.

A few years before his 2002 assassination, Kashmiri separatist leader Abdul Ghani Lone wanted to come to Delhi to meet the then Chinese ambassador. But the envoy told him: “Don’t disturb us now. Will not meet with you here. But at the appropriate time, China would do what it had to.”

Has the time come now, with the green signal from Washington? An India official, who did not wish to be named, dismissed the suggestion. “China certainly has no role to play in Kashmir. Beijing is probably trying to get its back over Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal. But, as the minister has already said, India has no problems with the invitation.”

So, is this the beginning of China’s direct intervention and attempt to play peacemaker between India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir? It is too early to tell. India has already made it clear there is no place for third-party intervention on Indo-Pakistan bilateral issues.

Asked if the joint statement in Beijing would cast a shadow on Indo-US relations, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao dismissed the suggestion that relations between two mature countries could be affected by a single sentence in a communique.

On Thursday, during a foreign office briefing in Beijing, spokesman Qin Gang was asked about China’s role as peace maker between India and Pakistan. “Both India and Pakistan are countries of major impact in South Asia, and the improvement and development of their relationship will contribute to regional peace and stability. China values its friendly cooperation with these two neighbours and hopes to see relations between the two continue to improve and grow,” he said.

Mirwaiz has announced he has accepted the invitation. The seminar where he is expected to address is slated for December. An Islamic NGO invited Mirwaiz when he was in the US at a conference attended by representatives of Chinese Muslims.