ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to China would bolster the strategic ties between the two nations.
Spokesman of Foreign Office Asim Iftikhar said: “The visit will reinforce the all weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China, and further advance the objective of building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.”
PM Khan is leaving for three-day visit to China on Feb 3, 2022. Premier will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and meet Chinese leaders.
The FO spokesman said the prime minister’s visit is taking place after nearly two years and will be an opportunity to both the countries to review the state of bilateral cooperation and discuss more projects.
The FO spokesman on this occasion again dispelled the impression of slowdown in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the multibillion dollar infrastructure project, saying it was progressing well.
“CPEC has continued making progress over the last two years despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Last meeting of the JCC was very productive and many CPEC projects are ongoing,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman of Foreign Office Mr Iftikhar termed the CPEC as high quality demonstration project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying both the countries are strongly committed to making it a successful initiative.
About normalisation of ties with India, he said that conditions were not conducive for it.
He said, the return of high commissioners to each other’s capital can possible only when important bilateral issues will be moving in a positive direction.
He further said: “At the moment, as you are aware, the current environment is not good and in our view the responsibility for that lies with India.”
Mr Iftikhar said India needed to take “steps and actions” for creating an environment conducive for constructive dialogue and engagement between the two countries.
He recalled that India was having troubled relations with most of its neighbours.
The spokesman said India had even ignored the advice of “common friends” for lessening tension and normalising ties with Pakistan.
