Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and hailed Pakistan’s partnership with its neighbour as “made in heaven”.
“We will always stand with China and trust you blindly,” the premier told President Xi during a meeting on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation.
The premier is in China on a two-day visit to attend the forum which is being held amid the backdrop of ongoing celebrations marking 10 years of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
A day earlier, the two countries had decided to expand the scope of the multibillion-dollar infrastructure project, which will now diversify to areas like industrial development, ICT, livelihood projects, mining and mineral exploration, and agriculture.
During his meeting with President Xi today, PM Kakar expressed Pakistan’s “deep commitment” to China. He described the ties between the two countries as “sweeter than honey” and an “iron-clad brotherhood”.
“The kind of global challenges that many nations are facing today, they need answers — deep and long-term answers. And the Belt and Road Initiative is an answer to all those questions,” Kakar said.
He stated that the path of modernisation adopted by China for the past many years was a lesson for Pakistan on how a country could transform the lives of millions of people.
Had the privilege of meeting with President Xi Jinping at the iconic Great Hall of People in Beijing. We discussed various dimensions of the multi faceted Pakistan-China relationship and reaffirmed our longstanding and steadfast friendship, all-weather strategic cooperation,… pic.twitter.com/26mClGTW15
— Anwaar ul Haq Kakar (@anwaar_kakar) October 19, 2023
Kakar reiterated that Pakistan would stand steadfast with China and there was no “dissenting view” in this regard.
“I reiterate that Pakistan will not allow anything to undermine our strategic partnership and we actually mean that. We will continue to strengthen, realise and articulate in our actions […] we will not just show commitment through words but also through action,” he said.
The Chinese should be assured that Pakistan would not “take back an inch” in its relationship with China, the PM vowed.
Separately, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kakar said: “President Xi reassured that China would continue supporting Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and development, and would continue supporting us in harnessing our geo-economic potential and as a hub of regional trade and economics, which is our shared vision”.
He added that the Chinese President had also accepted his invitation to visit Pakistan at the earliest.
