AHN News Staff

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan's ambassador to China, Masood Khan, has vehemently brushed off a New York Times report that Islamabad has handed to China control of the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Describing the report as "fabricated," Khan said there was no truth in this story, adding that China had only sent a humanitarian team to that region to assist Pakistani authorities in handling the flood situation, which has devastated the region the last few weeks.

He denied there were troops in the region as claimed by the Times.

According to the Times report, some 11,000 Chinese troops were deployed in the region as part of Beijing’s plans to acquire a grip on the strategic area to guarantee unobstructed rail and road access to the Gulf region via Pakistan.

“There are no Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan as claimed in the story,'' Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.

Meanwhile, Inter Services Public Relations has invited Selig S. Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy and the author of the story, to visit the region and see the ground situation.

Athar Abbas, director general of Inter Services, said there were factual errors in the article, claiming there were no troops, but Chinese civilians who brought relief goods for affected victims. Abbas added the Chinese civilians had offered to help renovate and reconstruct the Karakoram Highway. "The story is fabricated with a mala fide intent," he said.

Though Chinese media carried the report, the Beijing government has not made any official comment. Responding to the report, India said it was a serious matter if the story turned out to be true, adding it would independently verify the newspaper's report.


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