China played a ‘‘very helpful’’ role in defusing tension between India and Pakistan two years, ago, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. Powell’s remarks came as he was referring to US-China relations in an interview released by the State Department on Saturday.‘‘I have found the Chinese leadership over the last three or four years that I’ve been Secretary of State to be very helpful as we worked our way through problems on the sub-continent, the challenge that we faced two years ago between India and Pakistan. I found China to play a helpful role in the resolution of that problem.’’He was referring to the troop build-up across the border in 2001-2002 after the Parliament attack of 2001. China, Powell said, “is playing a very helpful role in the resolution of the problem with North Korea. It’s China that’s been hosting these six-party talks and playing a leadership as well as a hosting role.”
