No military solution to South China Sea row

US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday called on China and the Philippines to abide by an international tribunal's decision on the disputed South China Sea and said there was no military solution to the problem.

Kerry's remarks, made in a visit to India, came ahead of a G20 summit in China on Sunday and Monday that could be overshadowed by arguments over everything from territorial disputes to protectionism by China, diplomats say.

An arbitration court in The Hague ruled in July that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea. China dismissed the case lodged by the Philippines and rejected the ruling.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

China has vowed to take all measures needed to protect its sovereignty over the South China Sea and says its actions there, which have included land reclamation and construction of air fields and docks on reefs, are peaceful.

China has blamed the United States and its allies in the region, such as Japan and Australia, for stoking tension. The United States and Japan have no territorial claims in the South China Sea and say their priority is freedom of navigation.

The United States and India, in a joint statement issued on Tuesday after security talks, reiterated the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

Kerry also said Pakistan had made progress in the fight against extremism in recent months, but urged Islamabad to push harder against militants hiding within its borders as tensions with neighbourng India rise amid more violence in the disputed region of Kashmir.

"It is clear that Pakistan has work to do in order to push harder against its indigenous groups that are engaged in extremist activities," Kerry said yesterday, the second day of a visit to India.

Kerry said the United States had made it clear to Islamabad that it needs to act against groups such as the Taliban-linked Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba that are suspected of operating from Pakistan to launch attacks against its neighbours India and Afghanistan.

"In fairness, the Pakistanis have suffered greatly from terrorism in their own country," Kerry said. "All of us need to be supportive and also understanding of how difficult it is to take it on step by step."

Without elaborating, he added: "I believe that in the last months progress is being made and the Pakistanis are moving at a greater pace."