BEIJING: Pakistan and China reiterated their resolve to further strengthen their iron-clad, all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, underscoring the unique nature of their bilateral relationship.
The commitment came during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, where the two leaders emphasized that the exceptional bond between their nations must be reflected through deeper collaboration across multiple sectors.
The discussions also covered key regional and global issues, with both sides agreeing to maintain close coordination and cooperation in addressing shared challenges.
Prime Minister Shehbaz reaffirmed the desire to continue working closely with China for the successful implementation of the next phase of upgraded China Pakistan Economic Corridor, with its five new corridors.
He congratulated President Xi Jinping on the success of the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Tianjin and offered his felicitations on the 80th anniversary of World’s Anti-Fascist War.
Lauding President Xi Jinping for his visionary and transformational leadership that has inspired China’s remaining journey towards modernization and progress, the prime minister said that Pakistan took great pride in China’s achievements and would always stand ready to work together with China in this great journey.
He appreciated China’s unflinching support to Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and socio-economic development, as well as the significance of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as a flagship project of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to help both countries to build an even stronger Pakistan-China community with a shared future.
The prime minister hailed President Xi Jinping’s strong commitment to strengthen multilateralism and said Pakistan fully supported President Xi’s landmark steps in this regard including the Global Governance Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative as well as Global Civilization Initiative.
These initiatives would serve the collective global good and contribute to regional as well as global peace, stability and development, he added.
President Xi said that China would continue to assist Pakistan in all fields of economic growth and development, especially as the two countries were now ushering in the second Phase of CPEC that would focus on Pakistan’s most important economic sectors.
Prime Minister Shehbaz renewed his “most cordial” invitation to President Xi Jinping to undertake an official visit to Pakistan next year, when both countries would celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishment of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties.
