Islamabad: Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan arrived in Islamabad on Sunday afternoon to enhance bilateral cooperation in diverse areas. His visit has been strategically timed to discuss the situation unfolding across the Gulf region due to tensions between Iran and United States and its direct impact on Pakistan and China particularly the multibillion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Quraishi and other Pakistani high officials and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing received the Chinese dignitary at Nur Khan Airbase.
During the three-day (May 26-28) visit, Wang will call on President Arif Alvi and hold separate meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Pakistan and China are expected to sign several MoUs and agreements and launch projects to enhance bilateral cooperation in a broad range of areas.
“The visit of the Chinese Vice President underscores the vitality of the time-tested and all-weather relationship between Pakistan and China. It will reinforce the strength of bilateral ties and impart further impetus to the growing, multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries in diverse fields,” said a Foreign Office statement.
The visit is in continuation of high-level exchanges between the two countries, which has received new impetus since the PM Imran Khan’s visit to China in November 2018 and his participation in the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in April 2019.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson earlier said that Wang’s visit to Pakistan will further deepen high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust between the two countries and would advance the development of CPEC besides bilateral cooperation.
Wang, one of President Xi Jinping’s closest aides and a veteran Chinese leader, is also expected to discuss the implications of a possible confrontation in the Gulf region due to rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.
On Saturday, PM Imran Khan said he was concerned about the “rising tensions in the Gulf” and warned against the risk of conflict in the region as tensions between United States and Iran escalated. The premier underscored that “war was not a solution to any problem,” an official statement said.
