Chinese FM, COAS hold talks on regional security and counter-terrorism in Islamabad
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, currently on an official visit to Pakistan, met with Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir in Islamabad, the military’s media wing reported on Friday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the talks focused on regional security, counter-terrorism, and issues of mutual interest.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the all-weather strategic partnership and enhancing coordination at regional and international levels.
FM Wang Yi reiterated China’s continued support for Pakistan’s sovereignty and development, while COAS Asim Munir expressed gratitude for Beijing’s consistent backing.
“The meeting concluded with a shared resolve to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the region,” the statement added.
The meeting followed a series of discussions Wang Yi held with Pakistan’s top leadership, including the Prime Minister, President, and Deputy Prime Minister.
The previous day, the Chinese FM and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar engaged in a strategic dialogue, reaffirming their dedication to the high-quality development of the upgraded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the entire gamut of Pakistan-China relations and discussed important regional and global issues.
They also exchanged in-depth views on multiple facets of bilateral cooperation, including CPEC 2.0, trade and economic relations, multilateral cooperation, and people-to-people ties.
Addressing the joint press stakeout alongside Chinese FM Yi, Deputy PM and FM Senator Dar emphasised that the two countries enjoy complete unanimity and consensus on all major bilateral, regional, and global matters.
“We are heartened by Yi’s vision for advancing our bilateral cooperation, especially upgrading CPEC to its next phase,” Dar noted.
Chinese FM Wang described CPEC as the cornerstone of Pakistan-China strategic partnership, stating that the current priority is to advance high-quality development of the Corridor.
He said that during the 6th strategic dialogues, the two sides agreed to upgrade CPEC into “a growth corridor, livelihood-enhancing corridor, green corridor, and open corridor”.
“We will work hard to deepen our industrial agriculture and mining cooperation to improve the Pakistani people’s welfare and accelerate the Pakistan capability for self-sustained development and increase Pakistan’s economic resilience,” he said adding that China also supports development and operation of the Gwadar port and promote the KKH realignment project.
Furthermore, the Chinese foreign minister also welcomed the third-party participation in the ML-1 (Main Line Railway) project.
