Within five days of Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari visiting Beijing, Chinese authorities on Tuesday indicated that most of the terrorists operating on its soil have close links with similar groups and base camps in Pakistan. The statement is meant to exert serious pressure on Pakistan at a time with Islamabad is desperately seeking financial and nuclear assistance from Beijing.

China’s Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday listed major terrorist leaders of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement while saying that they were involved with similar groups and base camps in a “south Asian country” for the purpose of training and exchange of arms and ammunitions. The movement is fighting for carving out China’s Xinjiang province and other parts of Central Asia to create an East Turkistan nation for several decades, sources said.

The ministry did not identify the “south Asian country”. But terrorism experts say that the reference to Pakistan, which borders China’s troubled Xinjiang province, is obvious. ETIM, which has been identified by the United Nations as a terrorist group, is known to be head quartered in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) of Pakistan.