Pakistan and China on Sunday agreed to maintain close coordination to promote the shared objectives of “peace, stability and development” in Afghanistan and regional connectivity.
The consensus was reached during a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi in Beijing, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
“On Afghanistan, both sides appreciated the important role played by the meeting of the six neighbouring countries in evolving regional consensus and looked forwarded to its third meeting to be held in China,” it read.
The foreign minister was accompanying the prime minister on the four-day visit to China. During the visit, the PM-led delegation met with the heads of state and attended the 24th Olympic Winter Games.
FM Qureshi congratulated his Chinese counterpart on the successful hosting of the Winter Olympics and conveyed his best wishes on the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Recalling their last meeting in Chengdu for the 3rd round of Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue, the foreign minister appreciated the measures taken by the two sides to strengthen the “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership” between Pakistan and China. He thanked his counterpart for China’s “firm support” to Pakistan’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and national development,” and reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support to China on all issues of its core interest.
FM Qureshi was of the view that the PM’s face-to-face meetings with the Chinese leadership would provide fresh momentum to the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, add new avenues to practical cooperation, spur high quality development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – including industrial development, and develop greater synergies between the visions of geo-economics and Global Development Initiative.
The two foreign ministers also discussed the evolving situation in the region and beyond, in particular the grave humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. FM Qureshi briefed State Councilor Wang on the gross human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and systemic assaults on the freedoms of minorities in India.
