President Zardari visits Chinese Embassy, expresses condolence over Tuesday’s suicide bombing

President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday visited the Embassy of People’s Republic of China and offered condolences, on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan, over the killing of Chinese citizens in a terrorist attack in Bisham.

He strongly condemned Tuesday’s terrorist attack, saying that the Pakistani nation shared the grief of the Chinese people.

He said that the people of Pakistan stood in solidarity with the Chinese people in this hour of grief.

Upon his arrival, the president was received by Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong. The Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also present on the occasion, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release.

During the meeting, the president said that enemies in the region couldn’t accept the fact that Pakistan and China were further strengthening their bilateral ties.

He assured the Chinese ambassador that the criminals involved in the gruesome act would be apprehended and brought to justice.

He further said that all necessary measures would be taken to ensure the security of the Chinese citizens working on various projects in Pakistan.

The Chinese ambassador thanked the president for personally visiting the embassy to offer condolences.

He appreciated that Pakistanis from all walks of life had condemned the terrorist attack.

Jiang Zaidong highlighted that Chinese workers had made outstanding contributions towards Pakistan’s socio-economic development.

He said that terrorists were enemies of humanity and needed to be hunted down for targeting innocent people.

He underscored the need for increasing counter-terrorism cooperation and providing enhanced security to Chinese workers in Pakistan.

The ambassador reiterated his country’s resolve to further strengthen cooperation with Pakistan and continue its support for CPEC and other projects.

While registering his remarks in the visitor’s book at the Chinese embassy, the president stated that the inhuman attack struck at the core of shared values and the enduring friendship between the two countries.

“This incident was orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship”, he added.

He also wrote that Pakistan would never allow terrorists to undermine our shared goals for peace, prosperity and security in the region.

The development comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for a joint investigation by military and civilian officials into a suicide bombing that killed five engineers from China, while reviewing security arrangements for its projects, officials said.

Tuesday’s incident was the third major attack in a week on China’s interests in the South Asian nation, where Beijing has invested more than $65 billion in infrastructure projects, as part of its wider Belt and Road initiative.

Earlier, the PM chaired a meeting of civilian and military officials that reviewed security arrangements for the protection of Chinese nationals and their interests, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said, but gave no details.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, in which a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project at Dasu in Pakistan’s northwest, killing six people.

Two previous attacks targeted a naval air base in Pakistan and a strategic port used by China in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Beijing has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Shehbaz called for “a thorough joint investigation to be conducted, utilising all resources of the state,” his office said in a statement.