On last Friday, a senior US official said that China can certainly play a constructive role in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan that have been triggered by New Delhi’s recent decision to annex Kashmir. Recently, China-backed Pakistan’s request for the United Nations Security Council to discuss India’s decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, asking for the body to meet behind closed doors Beijing charters its grave reservation over India’s Kashmir policy and is justifiably opposed to New Delhi’s move on Kashmir, especially its decision to carve the Ladakh region out of Jammu And Kashmir State and administer it federally. The Chinese government spokesperson called the move “unacceptable” and said that it would help Pakistan in defending “its legitimate rights and interests” in the Kashmir region. UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet on last Monday, in her profound remarks to the opening session of the 42nd meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva expressed deep concern over the restrictions imposed by the Indian government in Kashmir –urging New Delhi to ease the strictures in place prior to the Parliament revoking article 370 of the constitution and integrating the region with the rest of the country.. While previously backing the US President Donald Trump’s mediation offer to help resolve the Kashmir issue, China said it supported the international community including the United States (US) in playing a constructive role in improving Pakistan-India relations through dialogue. “We support the international community, the US included, in playing a constructive role in improving Pakistan-India relations through dialogue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement issued here. Veritably, China’s policy on the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan has had a deep impact not only on regional stabilization but also the crisis management efforts in South Asia. And yet significantly, Beijing may play an important third-party role in helping deescalate hostilities between the two nuclear countries for whom peace has always remained a mammoth task. There appears a principled stand that China upholds on Kashmir while Beijing’s positive role in imparting its responsibility whenever Washington demanded it from Beijing with regard to defuse tensions between the South Asian rivals. While China’s growing alliance with Pakistan has raised alarm in India, yet conversely to the Indian apprehension, the ongoing situation cannot be threatening to regional stability in South Asia. In fact, China might be the well-placed country to mitigate crisis situations in the region, owing to its historic leverage with Pakistan and Beijing’s bilateral economic engagements with both Pakistan and India. And yet not surprisingly, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar on last Tuesday rejected the Pak-China joint statement and called on Pakistan and China to stop China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related activities in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Per se, the clashes– between India and Pakistan over the Line of Control in Kashmir, the de facto border between Indian- and Pakistan-administered territories– have been so frequent that it seems easy to overlook China’s role elsewhere in the region. But as obviously, Beijing also has had some competing claims over parts of Kashmir by becoming an affected party in the said conflict. In recent years, however, there remains an uneasy semi-détente between China and India over the Line of Actual Control- separating Chinese-controlled territory from Indian-administered Kashmir-and the so-called McMahon Line on Kashmir’s northerly flank that has kept India-Pakistan tensions in check. Foreseeably, after China’s positive mediatory role, there is a logical possibility that Moscow could also move forward to impart its humanitarian role regarding the Kashmiri cause. The US lawmakers have taken a cautionary and intervening observation regarding the ongoing situation in the IHK In Past, China policies towards Kashmir do relay reflections on multiple priority orientations based on the circumstantial expediencies: these four orientations:1-China’s official declared position over the Kashmir dispute.2-China’s traditional military assistance to Pakistan during Pak-India confrontation over Kashmir.3- China supports military assistance to Pakistan regardless of conflict with India over Kashmir.4-China’s view regarding modalities appropriate for dealing with Kashmir conflict. But despite all these policy drives with regard to China’s past foreign policy in South Asia, the deep and strategic role that currently the SCO could multilaterally play on resolving the Kashmir issue cannot be ignored. And yet hopefully, some subtle signs of China’s growing into its role as a regional arbiter in South Asia have become more vitally pronounced. In June, Beijing publicly acknowledged that Foreign Ministry representatives met with leaders of the Afghan Taliban in China. The Chinese government has also held steady as a supporter of the Iran nuclear deal, a key plank of stability in the wider region. While Beijing protested India’s unilateral move in Kashmir last week, its response has so far been measured, despite having legitimate concerns about its own territorial claims. Obviously, Beijing latest stance on New Delhi unilateral move to annex Kashmir has had some logical basis: While Beijing has been supporting its long-term ally Pakistan over the decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, it has so far been relatively restrained since India’s unwarranted claim over Jammu and Kashmir and its canny insistence that Kashmir is purely an internal matter has had strong parallels with China’s stance on Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Arguably, the pivotal forum to debate and intervene its role in the Kashmir crisis is the SCO since the foundational purpose of SCO as the largest intergovernmental organization in the world is to strengthen mutual trust and promote good neighbourly relations among its member states. This is to be achieved through gradual but consistent efforts by the SCO member states to engage in multifaceted cooperation to advance their collective, common interest in the sustainable human and protective security of the SCO space. Parallel to this, the SCO seeks to establish a more democratic and rational world order. In recent years the SCO has made counter-terrorism cooperation one of its main focus areas. The SCO in recent years, builtup Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) which focusses on periodic counterterrorism exercises involving the member states. Irrefutably, one of the major Indian motive to fail the SAARC was to keep it away from the Kashmir politics. But as far as the SCO is concerned, New Delhi cannot control its dynamics as it has had deviously demonstrated in the SAARC. Foreseeably, after China’s positive mediatory role, there is a logical possibility that Moscow could also move forward to impart its humanitarian role regarding the Kashmiri cause. The US lawmakers have taken a cautionary and intervening observation regarding the ongoing situation in the IHK. Four key US Senators via their letter to President Donald Trump have urged to play a constructive role– in helping resolve Kashmir and other underlying disputes between Pakistan and India –a role that would require him to mediate between South Asia’s two nuclear powers. The UNSC powers must forcefully voice their concerns regarding the Indian atrocities in Kashmir and also impart their diplomatic support for the Kashmiri right to self-determination/ independence from the Indian oppression. The writer is an independent ‘IR’ researcher and international law analyst based in Pakistan