Pakistan, China pledge to uphold friendship for regional peace, stability

Pakistan and China have agreed to maintain their friendship, emphasizing that it was significant for maintaining regional peace and stability.

This was reaffirmed in the 6th round of Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue in Islamabad today between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the entire gamut of Pakistan-China relations and discussed important regional and global issues, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement today.

Both the ministers also exchanged in-depth views on multiple facets of bilateral cooperation including CPEC 2.0, trade and economic relations, multilateral cooperation and people-to-people ties.

“Underlining the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between Pakistan and China, DPM/FM and FM Wang Yi agreed that Pakistan-China friendship is significant for maintaining regional peace and stability and also indispensable for progress and prosperity of the two countries,” said the FO.

The press release said that the two sides also agreed to continue close coordination and communication, both bilaterally and at multilateral forums.

Later, in a joint presser, Dar said that the two sides held “fruitful and substantive discussions today covering diverse areas of mutual interest”.

Yi is visiting Pakistan for the first time since India’s cross-border attack in May. He met with Field Marshal Munir in Beijing a few weeks prior, which is thought to have strengthened the “ironclad” connection between Beijing and Islamabad.

On August 18, the 10th Round of Pakistan-China Bilateral Consultations on Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament was held in Beijing wherein the two sides engaged in a comprehensive exchange of views on issues related to global and regional peace and security.