China on Thursday said Pakistan was "at the forefront of counterterrorism efforts" as it

mounted a defence of its "all weather" ally after the India and United States both sent a strong
message this week on the need to crack down on terror groups.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on a visit to India on Wednesday, had earlier this week
delivered a clear message to Islamabad during his visit there, in what Indian officials
described as a stronger stand than in the past on cracking down on "safe havens" for terrorists
as well as on the leaders of organisations still active in Pakistan.
"Pakistan needs to, I think, take a clear-eyed view of the situation that they are confronted with in
terms of the number of terrorist organisations that find safe haven inside of Pakistan,"
Tillerson said earlier this week in a message that echoed what India has long been arguing.
China, however, on Thursday came to the defence of its close ally. "I've said many times before
that Pakistan is at the forefront of counter terrorism efforts for many years," Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
"Pakistan has made positive efforts for counter-terrorism and made great sacrifices," Geng
added, saying that China "believes the international community should recognise efforts
made by Pakistan on counter-terrorism".
He said China "welcomed Pakistan and the US to conduct counter-terrorism cooperation
based on mutual respect", suggesting Beijing did not want to see criticism of its ally.
China reacted cautiously to Tillerson's India visit, with the Foreign Ministry saying it
"welcomes the US, India, Pakistan and all other countries to develop friendly relations." "We
hope and believe relations will be conducive to regional peace and stability," Geng said.
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