The Foreign Minister received the high-level Chinese delegation at the Foreign Office, led by His Excellency Yang Jiechi, Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Director of the Central Commission on Foreign Affairs of the CPC.
Director Yang was accompanied by Vice Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Commerce, Vice Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), and Deputy Secretary-General of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
During the talks, the two sides held wide-ranging discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations and comprehensively reviewed developments at the regional and international levels.
Welcoming Director Yang to Islamabad, the Foreign Minister underscored that his visit reflected the strong momentum in high-level exchanges in recent months, and also signified the importance attached by both sides to further deepening and broadening the unshakable and time-tested All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s staunch support for the “One-China” policy and all core issues of China including Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. He also thanked for China’s firm support of Pakistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as its steadfast support of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
The Foreign Minister underlined that over the years, China had immensely contributed to Pakistan’s socio-economic development. CPEC, the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative, had significantly bolstered Pakistan’s energy and transport infrastructure. The Government was committed to fast-tracked progress on ongoing CPEC projects, and advancing new projects, like ML-1 and Karachi Circular Railway, for Pakistan’s development and the well-being of its people. Special focus was being accorded to increased Chinese investments in CPEC SEZs in order to catalyze industrial development and enhance employment and livelihood opportunities for the local people.
The Foreign Minister thanked China for its invaluable assistance to economic well-being and development. He thanked for the renewal of the RMB 15 billion (the US $ 2.3 billion) syndicate facility.
The Foreign Minister highlighted that the people of Pakistan had a strong affinity with the brotherly Chinese people, who had always reinforced Pakistan’s efforts for national development. He added that the Government was fully committed to ensuring the safety, security, and protection of Chinese workers and projects in Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed satisfaction at the ongoing cooperation and coordination between Pakistan and China in the security and defense sector, which was a factor of peace and stability in the region.
In the regional context, the Foreign Minister expressed concern at the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, aggravated by the recent earthquake. He highlighted the importance of unfreezing Afghanistan’s assets to ease the suffering of the Afghan people.
The two sides agreed to remain in close contact and work together to further deepen the multi-faceted, strategic cooperative partnership for mutual benefit.
Earlier, at the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister H.E. Wang Yi, H.E. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Guangzhou on 21-22 May 2022 for his first official bilateral visit after taking office as Foreign Minister of Pakistan. The visit coincided with the 71st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Prime Mister Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, spoke to Chinese Premier Mr. Li Ke Qiang earlier over the phone. High-level interaction between the two Iran Brothers is a routine matter and quite frequent. On the one hand, it strengthens our mutual consultation and understanding, and on the other hand, it counters to anti-China, and Anti-Pakistan propaganda spread by our common adversaries.
As a matter of fact, Our common adversaries are over-engaged in spreading fake news, fabricated stories, and distorted narratives regarding China, and Pakistan, especially, trying to create misunderstandings between the two Iron Brothers.
Few countries are over-engaged in using Media as a tool of hate, misunderstanding, and coercion. They are trying to disturb China-Pakistan relations, and harm China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). India is leading an anti-Pakistan campaign and undermining CPEC. The US is aimed to counter China, Contain China, and resist China’s rise. The US wanted to isolate China and pressurizing Pakistan against China. Japanese media is playing an equally dirty role in this regard.
However, the high-level mutual visits and interactions cancel their negative propaganda. Especially, Yang Jiechi, a Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Director of the Central Commission on Foreign Affairs of the CPC, the visit ends all negative propaganda.
