Both countries agree to play positive and constructive role in Afghanistan
\nISLAMABAD
\nChina has thrown its weight behind the Shehbaz Sharif government, congratulating Pakistan on holding \u201csuccessful general elections\u201d and expressing \u201cgood wishes\u201d for the new administration to promote economic development and prosperity.
\nThe statement from Pakistan\u2019s all-weather strategic partner came at the end of the Pak-China Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing this week. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi co-chaired the annual meeting to review bilateral ties and discuss a host of regional and international issues.
\n\u201cChina congratulated Pakistan on holding successful general elections and expressed good wishes to the new Pakistani government in leading the Pakistani people in their endeavour to maintain stability and security and promote economic development and prosperity,\u201d read a joint statement issued by the Foreign Office on Thursday.
\nThe statement is seen as significant against the backdrop of allegations levelled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that its mandate was stolen and the current government lacks legitimacy.
\nChina never publicly comments on Pakistan\u2019s domestic political issues but privately has always been keen to see political stability in the country.
\nDuring the dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on the entire range of bilateral relations and cooperation, including strategic, economic, political, defence and security, trade, investment and commerce, and cultural and people-to-people domains.
\nInternational and regional issues of shared interest were also discussed, and the two sides reached a consensus to collectively take measures to safeguard their common interests, promote the socio-economic development of the peoples of the two countries, and work together to promote peace, development, and prosperity in the region.
\nBoth sides reiterated that Pakistan and China are all-weather strategic cooperative partners, sharing an unbreakable ironclad friendship and strategic mutual trust. The healthy and robust growth of Pakistan-China relations is of immense strategic significance for regional peace, development, and stability.
\nThe two sides will implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, enhance exchanges at all levels, deepen experience-sharing in state governance, further enhance win-win cooperation in all areas, and accelerate the building of an even closer Pakistan-China community with a shared future in the new era.
\nPakistan spoke highly of China\u2019s major development achievements in the new era under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, appreciated China\u2019s people-centred development philosophy, and believed that the Chinese path to modernisation provides a new option and practical solution for developing countries to achieve independent development.
\nThe two sides reaffirmed their unyielding support for each other on issues concerning their respective core interests.
\nThe Pakistani side reaffirmed its firm commitment to the One-China principle and reiterated that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China\u2019s territory. Pakistan firmly supported the Chinese government\u2019s every effort to achieve national reunification and opposes any form of \u201cTaiwan independence.\u201d
\nThe joint statement noted that Pakistan firmly supports China on issues concerning Xinjiang, Xizang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. The Chinese side reiterated its steadfast support for Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty, national independence, and territorial integrity, in pursuing a development path suited to Pakistan\u2019s national conditions and achieving economic prosperity, in firmly combating terrorism, and in playing a bigger role in regional and international affairs.
\nThe two sides strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the Chinese convoy of the Dasu Hydropower Project in Pakistan on March 26, 2024, and emphasised that no attempt to undermine China-Pakistan cooperation will ever succeed.
\nIn keeping with its ironclad friendship with China, the Pakistani side will hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice, take more effective security measures, and make all-out efforts to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan. The Chinese side recognised Pakistan\u2019s contributions and sacrifices in combating terrorism over the years.
\nThe two sides reiterated their commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations with a \u201czero tolerance\u201d attitude and agreed to further strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism and security through a comprehensive approach.
\nCalling on the international community to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, the two sides expressed their firm opposition to double standards on counter-terrorism.
\nThe two sides will work together to deepen and substantiate China\u2019s eight major steps to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and forge an \u201cupgraded version\u201d of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by jointly building a growth corridor, a livelihood-enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor, and an open corridor by aligning them with Pakistan\u2019s development framework and priorities.
\nThe two sides agreed to accelerate progress on major connectivity projects, including the upgradation of ML-1, the Gwadar Port, and the realignment of Karakoram Highway Phase II, strengthen cooperation in agriculture, industrial parks, mining, information technology, and other fields according to local conditions, and enhance Pakistan\u2019s capacity for sustainable development.
\nThe two sides believe that the Khunjerab Pass plays an important role in promoting bilateral trade and people-to-people exchanges, and agreed to speed up efforts to ensure that the Khunjerab Pass can function year-round.
\nThe two sides discussed ongoing energy cooperation and agreed to further enhance it. They also agreed to further strengthen financial and banking cooperation, including support for each other at regional and international forums.
\nThe Pakistani side appreciated China for providing support for its fiscal and financial sectors and assistance in the face of floods and other natural disasters.
\nBoth sides expressed satisfaction with their expanding space cooperation and agreed to further build on it for a peaceful and mutually beneficial exploration of space.
\nBoth sides underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability in South Asia, the need for the resolution of all outstanding disputes, and their opposition to any unilateral action.
\nThe Pakistani side briefed the Chinese side on the latest developments in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chinese side reiterated that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a legacy of history and should be properly and peacefully resolved in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and bilateral agreements.
\nThe two sides reiterated their readiness to further enhance cooperation under the framework of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilisation Initiative.
\nPakistan highly commended China\u2019s efforts to safeguard the rights of developing countries for sustainable development. The two sides expressed satisfaction over cooperation in multilateral regimes such as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and agreed to strengthen coordination and collaboration to safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international fairness and justice.
\nThe two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, support for multilateralism and free trade, and opposition to the creation of \u201csmall circles\u201d and bloc confrontation.
\nThe two sides agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on the Afghanistan issue. They called for concerted efforts by the international community to help Afghanistan properly address challenges in areas such as the humanitarian situation and economic development, and encourage Afghanistan to build an inclusive political framework, adopt moderate policies, pursue good-neighbourliness, and firmly combat terrorism, including not allowing its territory to be used for terrorist acts.
\nBoth sides agreed to play a positive and constructive role in helping Afghanistan achieve stable development and integrate into the international community.
\nThe two sides reiterated that the fundamental solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent state of Palestine. The resolution adopted by the UN Security Council is legally binding and should be enforced effectively to achieve an unconditional and lasting ceasefire immediately.
\nThe international community should increase input into the Palestinian question with a greater sense of urgency, step up efforts to facilitate the early resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel, and strive for enduring peace.
\nThe two sides reiterated that as good neighbours, good friends, good partners, and good brothers, Pakistan and China will promote their ironclad ties, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and upgrade strategic cooperation to break new ground and set new goals in their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Both countries agree to play positive and constructive role in Afghanistan ISLAMABAD China has thrown its weight behind the Shehbaz Sharif government, congratulating Pakistan on holding \u201csuccessful general elections\u201d and expressing \u201cgood wishes\u201d for the new administration to promote economic development and prosperity. The statement from Pakistan\u2019s all-weather strategic partner came at the end of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64880,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64862\/revisions\/64880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}