FM Dar meets Chinese President Xi in Beijing

Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Tuesday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and conveyed him the warm greetings of the leadership, government and people of Pakistan.

“As iron-clad brothers and all-weather strategic cooperative partners, we remain committed to deepening Pak-China enduring friendship and advancing shared regional goals,” Dar wrote in a post on X. The meeting between the foreign minister and Chinese president was held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dar also represented Pakistan at the joint call of the Foreign Ministers of the SCO Member States on President Xi. The Chinese president, welcoming the heads of delegations, underlined the salience of regional cooperation under the ambit of SCO, an organisation covering the Eurasian land mass and a large expanse of the world’s population, Radio Pakistan reported.

Senator Dar arrived in Beijing, China, on Monday to attend a three-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers being held in Tianjin, China. He is attending the event at the invitation of Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi.

He was received at the airport by Ambassador Ms Yu Hong, Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People’s Republic of China and Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Khalil ur Rehman Hashmi, and senior officials from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During his official visit, DPM/FM will lead Pakistan’s delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Tianjin on Tuesday.

He will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from SCO member states.

Foreign ministers of all SCO member states, including Pakistan, China, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will participate in the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting.

The foreign minister of Belarus will attend the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting for the first time as member of SCO.

The Council of Foreign Ministers is the third highest forum in the SCO format.

Meanwhile, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he met Chinese President Xi as part of the delegation of foreign ministers attending the meeting of the SCO.

“Apprised President Xi of the recent development of our bilateral ties,” Jaishankar wrote in a post on X, sharing a picture of him shaking hands with Xi.