Pak-China FMs’ meetings indication of a strong relationship

Web Desk (LTN NEWS): On Monday, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said that three meetings between Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the past three months show how close ties are between China and Pakistan.

“You are absolutely right to say that. Zhao Lijian said this at his regular briefing in response to a question about Wang Yi and Bilawal Bhutto’s meeting last week on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

He said that State Councilor Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto at the meeting of SCO foreign ministers.

He said that the two foreign ministers had an in-depth conversation about strengthening our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, advancing political cooperation, pursuing high-quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) cooperation, and stepping up cooperation in many areas, including in multilateral settings.

The spokesperson said that during the meeting, Wang Yi made it clear that the Chinese side would do everything it could to help Pakistan protect its sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. The Chinese side would also help Pakistan find a way to develop that fits its own needs so that it can achieve unity, stability, and prosperity.

“We also support Pakistan’s role in regional and international affairs,” he said. “We will talk more and build a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future together in a new era.”

He said that China was happy for Chinese businesses to invest in Pakistan and that China was ready to buy more high-quality agricultural goods.

Both countries agreed that they would start sending people back and forth by air and gradually increase the number of flights.

State Councilor Wang also said that the terrorist attack on April 26 must be looked into quickly and the people who did it must be held accountable. Foreign Minister Bilawal said that the Pak-China strategic partnership and friendship would always be at the center of Pakistan’s foreign policy, and that Pakistan would stand firm with China on issues that were important to China’s core interests and major concerns.

He also said that the Pakistani side will speed up CPEC construction to show how fast the new Pakistan is, and they will also work to make CPEC safer.

He said that the two foreign ministers also talked about international issues, such as the situation in Afghanistan.

Moin ul Haque, the Pakistani ambassador to China, said that the third meeting between the two foreign ministers in three months shows how strong the China-Pakistan All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership is.

This is the third time that the two foreign ministers have met with each other in the last three months. Ambassador Haque said in a tweet that the strong China-Pakistan All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership is shown by how often high-level people talk to each other.

On May 22, when Foreign Minister Bhutto Zardari went to China at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, they met in Guangzhou, the capital city of the Guangdong Province in South China.

It was Bilawal Bhutto’s first official trip outside of Pakistan since he took office in April.

During the meeting, the two leaders talked in depth about how to deepen cooperation in all areas, including energy, industry, agriculture, IT, transportation infrastructure, and more.

On May 11, Wang Yi met with Bilawal Bhutto through a video connection. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s first official international activity since taking office was meeting with the Chinese foreign minister.