Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday that even China was eyeing Kashmir because it had become so vulnerable, The Sunday Express reported. Mufti said it was a “matter of serious concern” that China had started talking about Kashmir when earlier it was only Pakistan that did so.

She said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir “had to pay the price” any time India’s borders were threatened. She added that the country needs to be “united on Kashmir” as the “only way to face this new reality is that instead of using Kashmir as a political issue to divide public opinion, parties across the political divide should come together.”

Mufti said that all parties need to counter any pressure from China, the way they did when there was a conflict in Bhutan or when there is trouble with Pakistan. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case regarding Kashmir,” she said. “What is happening in Kashmir isn’t a mere law and order problem. It is much more than that.”

Mufti had on Saturday called on Home Minister Rajnath Singh about security arrangements in the Valley in the aftermath of the attack on an Amarnath Yatra bus, which left seven pilgrims dead.