There is probably more to it than that, however. For B. Raman, a former head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's main spy agency,
China's policy is consistent with a change in its stance on Indian-held Kashmir: “it has diluted its past acceptance ofJ&K as a de facto part of India.”
As Mr Raman notes, this must delight Pakistan, which will see it as tacit support for its claim to all of Kashmir. He points out it might also be seen as a way of bolstering China's position in possible future negotiations over Indian-claimed territory it now occupies.
In the context of the long-running and largely suppressed
strategic tension between the two giant neighbours, China's hints of sympathy for Pakistan over Kashmir, and for secessionists in the territory itself, are extremely unwelcome for India.
It will also have noticed and been concerned by China's increased activity in Pakistan's “Northern Areas” (which were recently renamed as Gilgit-Baltistan), the north-western part of the old J&K kingdom. Chinese soldiers there are working on road, railway and other infrastructure projects. This will provide a fast route into western China from the port it is building at Gwadar, on Pakistan's shore of the Arabian Sea.
According to
Selig Harrison, an American analyst, writing in the
New York Times, the Chinese influence is greater than had been known and
Pakistan “is handing over de factocontrol” of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is suffering a simmering revolt against Pakistani rule. He says between 7,000 and 11,000 Chinese troops are there.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2010/08/china_and_kashmir