Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari along with his delegation in a bilateral meeting with the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Li Qiang, at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing today. Photo source: PPP|X
Beijing: China and Pakistan raked up the K-word for an umpteenth time with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari briefing Chinese leadership on the latest developments in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani President is on a state visit to China from February 4 to 8, 2025, at the invitation of Xi Jinping.
The Kashmir issue figured during Zardari’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on February 5, 2025, and Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, here today.
The Chinese side reiterated its firm support for Pakistan in defending its national sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, and its support for Pakistan’s efforts to safeguard national security, stability, development and prosperity. It reiterated that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is “leftover from history and should be properly and peacefully resolved in accordance with the U.N. Charter, relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements”.
Pakistan and China also underscored the “irreplaceable and critical role” of strategic defence and security cooperation between the two in maintaining peace, stability and strategic balance in the region. They agreed to maintain the momentum of high-level military-to-military visits and exchanges and to continuously elevate cooperation in areas of joint training, exercises and military technology. “The two sides believe that a peaceful and prosperous South Asia is in the common interest of all parties and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in South Asia and the need for resolution of all outstanding disputes, and their opposition to any unilateral action,” a joint statement released today, stated.
The Chinese foreign ministry stated that during the visit, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Zardari in a “warm and friendly” atmosphere where they had an in-depth exchange of views on China-Pakistan relations under the new situation and on the international and regional issues of mutual interests.
The two sides agreed to strengthen high-level interactions, enhance exchanges and cooperation across various departments and at different levels between central governments, local authorities, legislative bodies and political parties, and carry out in-depth exchanges of governance experience.
Significantly, the Pakistani side spoke highly of the Belt and Road Initiative put forth by President Xi Jinping and agreed with China to promote the implementation of the eight major steps on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in Pakistan and jointly build a growth corridor, a livelihood-enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor and an open corridor, to create an upgraded version of controversial China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through the disputed region of Kashmir.
Recalling the 13th CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting, the two sides stated they were committed to further leveraging the JCC’s functions to strengthen the alignment of ideas and coordination of actions for high-quality CPEC development. The Pakistani side appreciated the Chinese side for the successful holding of the seminar on creating an upgraded version of CPEC which helped the Pakistani officials learn the first-hand experience of China’s development and offered the Pakistani side valuable learning opportunity. The two sides agreed to hold the 14th JCC meeting as early as possible at a mutually agreed date.
– global bihari bureau
