PM Visit: China and Pakistan Relationship

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in China on Tuesday to promote China and Pakistan Relationship for a two-day official visit. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, his counterpart invited him. He visited the neighboring nation for the first time since taking office in April. Although both countries commenced formal diplomatic relations in 1951, little interaction was there in the formative years between the two. Both soon were dragged into the burden of nation-building tasks because of the conflicts i.e Kashmir and Korea conflicts which were the biggest challenges of the time.

Who was accompanying Prime Minister?

The team accompanying the premier included Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, and Railways Minister Saad Rafique. In Beijing, senior Chinese government officials greeted him.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went to Beijing on November 1. He was one of the first world leaders to travel to the neighboring nation at the historic 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). This party elected Xi Jinping as the party’s general secretary.

China and Pakistan Relationship

PM Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Pakistan between Wednesday and Thursday night, according to the reports. The prime minister met with the president during the two-day trip in addition to his Chinese counterpart. On Wednesday, the final day of Sharif’s two-day visit to China, the leaders met at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Also read: Pakistan-China Relations 2022

Detailed Report of Meeting

For part of Afghanistan and Occupied AJK

President Xi Jinping and the prime minister spoke about the need for peace in Afghanistan. They also discussed the situation in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir during their meeting. The statement further said that the extension of CPEC to Afghanistan will strengthen regional connectivity initiatives.

To Boost the Economy

PM Shehbaz Sharif extended an invitation to Chinese investors to visit Pakistan while he was in China. They decided to deepen Pakistan and China’s strategic partnership. According to Xi, China will continue to assist Pakistan in stabilizing its economy.

Focus on CPEC

Xi stated that the two neighbors should increase cooperation in the development of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). They decided to speed up the construction of the Gwadar seaport in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

CPEC Tweet

For Flood Victims

Moreover, the flood victims in Pakistan will get an additional 500 million yuan in aid and restoration efforts, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping. PM Sharif praised Xi for its “invaluable aid to Pakistan’s rescue and rehabilitation work” during the recent floods.

This disaster has taken more than 1,700 lives and impacted 33 million people. Because of these terrible floods, which left Pakistan with losses of up to $30 billion, the government is experiencing a balance of payments problem.

MOUs

In order to make it easier for businesses and financial institutions in both countries to use RMB for cross-border transactions, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the State Bank of Pakistan recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOUs) for the establishment of an RMB clearing arrangement in Pakistan.

Railway Project

In order to facilitate the early construction of the Mainline-1 (ML-1) railway upgrade project and the Karachi Circular Railway project, Xi emphasized that the nations should cooperate. According to the official broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday, China will also transfer technology for a 160 km/h high-speed rail train to Pakistan.

Other Agreements – To promote China and Pakistan Relationship

A number of other agreements were also signed and finalized by the two parties. It encompasses bilateral collaboration in the fields of agricultural exports, e-commerce, and the digital economy. There were many others too like financial cooperation, cultural property protection, infrastructure, flood relief, post-disaster rebuilding, GDI, animal disease control, livelihood, cultural cooperation, space, geosciences, as well as law enforcement and security. China is also interested in exporting its Photovoltaic technology to Pakistan.

To read more about the Pakistan-China relationship, click here!

Similar Posts

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *