Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has met his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin for talks during a brief stopover in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The tendency [in China] is to give Pakistan the benefit of the doubt

Beijing-based diplomat

Details of their meeting have not been released, but the two men were expected to discuss tensions between Pakistan and India over the disputed region of Kashmir.

China is a major supplier of weapons to Pakistan and a long-standing ally.

Correspondents say General Musharraf has been eager to reassure Beijing that their alliance is sound, despite his government's recent close ties to the United States.

Beijing was the Pakistani leader's last stop on a regional tour after visits to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Strong ties

Analysts said the meeting was a significant affirmation of Pakistan's relations with China, given Beijing's recent efforts to improve ties with India.

China, which itself controls a small portion of Kashmir, is keen to see stability in the region and has adopted a more diplomatically balanced approach in recent months.

But observers say ties between Beijing and Islamabad remain strong, pointing out that Mr Jiang broke off from an important meeting of the Chinese leadership to meet General Musharraf.

It was General Musharraf's third visit to China since late last year.

"The tendency [in China] is to give Pakistan the benefit of the doubt and lean in that direction," a Beijing-based diplomat told the Reuters news agency.

"But I think [the Chinese] have been trying to be a bit more balanced in the way they've spoken about what both sides need to do," he was quoted as saying.