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With the United States and Pakistan engaged in a war of words, China on Friday sprung to the defence of its 'all weather ally', asking Washington to respect Islamabad's sovereignty and territorial integrity while fighting its war on terror.
Asked about US military Chief Admiral Mike Mullen's accusations that Inter-Services Intelligence was supporting the Haqqani network to wage a proxy war in Afghanistan, a spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry defended Pakistan, saying it has been "in the forefront of international efforts against terrorism".
"Pakistan has made important sacrifices in global fight against terrorism. We hope relevant country will respect other countries sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. He, however, said he was not aware of specific allegations of the US. The top US military commander Mullen had lashed out at Pakistan on Thursday, blaming ISI for providing support to the Haqqani terror network in carrying out the recent attack on the US embassy in Kabul.
In a severe indictment, Mullen said the Haqqani network "acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency," remarks that created furore in Pakistan which hit back, asking the US to stop making such comments.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Americans could not effectively fight the ongoing war in Afghanistan without Pakistan's assistance after his Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar warned Washington that it could lose an ally if it continued to publicly accuse Islamabad of exporting violence to Afghanistan.