Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang made his first official two-day visit to Pakistan which started on Friday. During the visit, both sides vowed to strengthen bilateral relations in several areas. On Saturday the visiting Chinese minister attended the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral dialogue.
Saturday was the fourth Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, which was held in Islamabad, for which Qin Gang, was there. Qin made his first trip to the nation after being appointed Beijing’s top diplomat.
Pakistan’s Political and Economic Crisis
After the behind-closed-doors strategic talks, Qin and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed a press conference. Qin said that he sincerely hopes that the political forces in the nation will build consensus, uphold stability, and more effectively address domestic and external challenges so it can focus on growing the economy.
Since Imran Khan’s ouster as prime minister a year ago following a no-confidence vote in parliament, the nation has been experiencing severe political unrest. The country is currently experiencing a political and constitutional crisis as a result of the lack of agreement regarding the election schedule between Khan’s party and the 13-party ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The nation is also beset by a debilitating financial crisis. China has provided relief by rerouting debt and parking money there to boost dreadfully low foreign exchange reserves, aiding Pakistan to restart a stagnant bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund and avoid default. Former Pakistani representative to the US, UK, and UN, Maleeha Lodhi said that without China’s intervention, her nation would have gone into default.
Nevertheless, the nation also depends on China for one-third of its external debt, making Beijing the country’s biggest lender. Since the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was established ten years ago, this debt has increased dramatically.
During the meeting, a range of bilateral relations including political, strategic, economic, defense, security, education, and cultural domains was also reviewed. Now the regional and global issues of mutual interest were also discussed as per an official statement. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari later in a joint news conference cautioned that the security concerns emanating out of Afghanistan could become a geopolitical football.
The country has witnessed a surge in militant attacks by the Pakistan-Taliban in recent months. While the Chinese Foreign Minister urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to achieve friendly relations and called on the Taliban to embrace inclusive governance.
“The issue of terrorism or the security threats emanating out of Afghanistan must be isolated from the geopolitical squabbles of our time. If this issue becomes a geopolitical football, then there will be a serious challenge in the way we resolve this crisis” said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister.
Early on Friday Qin Gang met with Arif Alvi and the leaders pledged to accelerate the construction of the CPEC. They also deliberated on deepening cooperation in the fields of agriculture, connectivity, and information technology.
Arif Alvi, President of Pakistan also confirmed its firm support for the One China policy and on the issues concerning China’s core interests. He also said that Pakistan would work in order to secure the safety of the Chinese nationals and organizations working on the multi-billion-dollar project, as China has been demanding an increase in security for its nationals residing in the country in the wake of multiple attacks.
