ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar will visit China next week to participate in the third edition of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) being held on October 17-18, 2023 in Beijing.
The caretaker prime minister is visiting Beijing at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and diplomatic sources said that the two sides are also expected to sign a number of agreements/ MoUs during his first visit to China since assuming office on August 14, 2023.
Kakar will be accompanied by caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, caretaker Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Sami Saeed, and other relevant officials during the visit.
The Chinese government has invited leaders from more than 100 countries to attend the third edition of the BRF including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Besides attending the forum, the sources maintained that the caretaker prime minister will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang during which the two sides are expected the hold discussions on issues of mutual interest, trade and the economy focusing Chinese investments in projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), regional and global issues.
The MoUs proposed by China and expected to be signed during the visit will cover eight areas including urban sustainable development, mineral development and industrial cooperation, research of the routes for industrial cooperation, expert exchange mechanism, expert communication mechanism on Gwadar port development, green and low-carbon development, and digital economy cooperation.
Pakistan on its side has proposed 19 agreements/ MoUs which are expected to be signed during the visit including addendum to the Framework Agreement Main Line-1 (ML-1) project firming up design and scope; Framework Agreement on Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) following the revised feasibility study already shared with the Chinese; realignment on Karakoram Highway (KKH) Thakot-Raikot; the DI Khan-Zhob Road Project, Mirpur-Muzaffarabad-Mansehra Road, Babusar tunnel, and Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9); Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI); identification of potential sites for pump-storage hydropower project; 1320-MW Thar Block-1(Shanghai); and the 300-MW coal project Gwadar.
Previously, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China on November 1-2 and joint statement issued at the conclusion of the visit, Sharif had reaffirmed the government of Pakistan’s willingness to commit to high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and highlighted the salience of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under BRI, to Pakistan’s economic and social development.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023