Xi Jinping hails China's 'unbreakable' friendship with Pakistan as he meets PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday met Chinese President Xi Jinping, who hailed Beijing's "unbreakable" friendship with Islamabad and commended Pakistan for taking the initiative to play a mediating role in restoring peace in West Asia. During the meeting at the Great Hall of the People, Xi called Shehbaz an "old friend" and said the two countries "understood, trusted and supported each other” over decades, forging an “unbreakable traditional friendship,” according to Dawn newspaper. "China commends Pakistan for taking the initiative to play a mediating role in restoring peace in the Middle East," Xi told Shehbaz, who was accompanied by Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir who concluded his visit to Iran on Saturday. Sharif appreciated China's support for Pakistan in mediating the US-Iran negotiations, noting that President Xi's four propositions on the West Asia situation offer guidance for achieving peace, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. “I know that you have just returned from Iran and made positive efforts for the current peace. We still appreciate the constructive role played by Pakistan,” Xi was quoted as saying by Dawn.

Shehbaz called China and Pakistan two “iron brother” countries with a relationship that is "next to none". Earlier, Shehbaz held talks with Premier Li Qiang during which he called for Islamabad and Beijing to “really be together” in ongoing efforts to restore peace in West Asia. Speaking at the delegation-level talks with Li at the Great Hall of the People, Shehbaz said that the “world is passing through a very critical moment”. “There is a crisis in the Gulf, and Pakistan has played a very sincere role to mediate between the US and Iran,” Shehbaz said, noting that Field Marshal Munir had just returned from Tehran. “And he (Munir) didn’t want to miss this great visit, and he assured me that he will be joining me in this meeting, and he has been travelling throughout the night,” said Shehbaz, who arrived in China on Saturday on a four-day official visit as the two all-weather allies celebrated the 75th year of establishment of diplomatic relations.

He highlighted that the army chief “played a very important role back and forth with the Iranian leadership and the American leadership”, also mentioning Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s communications with his regional counterparts. “We hope and pray to Allah Almighty that peace will be restored forever, and lots of ground has already been covered. Things are moving in the right direction,” he said. He thanked President Xi and the Chinese leadership for their “great support to Pakistan to promote peace and achieve a ceasefire”. The prime minister said that his visit comes at a “critical moment of history”, noting that both countries were celebrating 75 years of “our glorious friendship and diplomatic relations established by our founding fathers”.

Citing an official statement, Dawn reported that PM Shehbaz reaffirmed that the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership remained the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy. He said that the “iron-clad friendship” between the two countries was rooted in mutual trust, strategic confidence and shared commitment to peace, development and prosperity. The two leaders "reiterated their support on all issues of core interests to both countries”.

It said that the two leaders reviewed the whole spectrum of bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction at the steady growth of cooperation in political, economic, strategic, security and people-to-people domains. Shehbaz underscored Pakistan’s commitment to the “high-quality development of CPEC and its next phase, with focus on industrialisation, connectivity, agriculture, science and technology, digital transformation, clean energy and socio-economic development”. He highlighted the importance of building synergies between China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and Pakistan’s development framework, Uraan Pakistan, to accelerate Pakistan's development priorities and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, the statement added. It said that Shehbaz appreciated China’s “consistent support” to Pakistan’s national development and economic stability.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s firm resolve to ensure foolproof security of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects in Pakistan and also highlighted the importance of enhanced cooperation in emerging sectors, including space, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies. Shehbaz also said that the selection of Pakistani astronauts for China’s space station programme reflected the growing depth of Pakistan-China cooperation in new and strategic domains, the statement said.

“Both sides agreed to maintain close coordination, accelerate implementation of agreed projects and carry forward the Pakistan-China partnership into a new phase of practical, results-oriented and high-quality cooperation,” the statement added. Separately, state-run Pakistan TV reported that Shehbaz and Premier Li also witnessed the signing and exchange of multiple memoranda of understanding, protocols, and cooperation agreements covering trade, investment, agriculture, science and technology, climate change, education, media and people-to-people exchanges. According to state-run APP, these 15 documents included an MoU on economic development cooperation and another on environment and climate change cooperation.

The two sides also signed a letter on counterterrorism equipment cooperation and an MoU on human resource development cooperation. Shehbaz first landed in the Chinese city of Hangzhou on Saturday and visited local industrial units, interacted with provincial officials, and later arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders.