Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday he was watching the situation in disputed Kashmir and would support Pakistan in issues related to its core interests, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi told visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan during a meeting in Beijing that the right and wrong of the situation was clear, Xinhua said. 

Xi added that the parties [Pakistan and India] should resolve the dispute through peaceful dialogue.

Tensions over the disputed region of Kashmir have risen sharply since August 5 when New Delhi revoked the limited autonomy of India-administered Kashmir, triggering protests and unprecedented lockdown of the highly-militarised region.

Pakistan calls it an "illegal annexation" of the Himalayan territory where it awaits a UN-promised plebiscite. 

Majority in Kashmir say India's move is aimed to alter the Muslim demographics of the region by settling Hindu outsiders.

Political leaders and thousands of civilians have been arrested, with allegations of torture and abuse levelled at authorities –– which deny them –– and protests have since raged.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir's mostly Muslim population and most people support the rebels' cause of independence or merger with Pakistan. Nearly 100,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown since 1989.