China supports Pakistan when India and US slams safe Pak for terror

After the India and United States both sent a strong message this week to Pakistan on the need to crack down on terror groups. China on Thursday mounted a defence of Pakistan and said that Pakistan is "at the forefront of counterterrorism efforts".

Tillerson said "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,"

China, 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.