China Calls For 'Restraint' After India's Cross LoC Air Strikes

China on Tuesday urged India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" and asked New Delhi to carry out its fight against terrorism through international cooperation, hours after Indian fighter jets struck Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest camp in Pakistan in a pre-dawn attack.

When asked for China's response to India's airstrikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media that “we have taken note of relevant reports."

"I want to say that India and Pakistan are both important countries in South Asia. A sound relationship and cooperation between the two serves the interests of both the countries and peace and stability in South Asia," he said.

"We hope that both India and Pakistan can exercise restraint and do more to improve their bilateral relations," he said.

The Indian Air Force fighter jets carried out pre-dawn air strikes on terror camps across the Line Control in the Pakistani side, 12 days after Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir.

The operation, described as a non-military, preemptive strike, was welcomed by the entire political spectrum and military experts who had been advocating retribution after the February 14 suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama claimed by JeM.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into their bus in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir. 

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel from Jammu to Srinagar. More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy.

The attack was the worst-ever attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in the state in1989.

(With inputs from agencies)