Prime Minister Imran Khan meetings with China’s top four leaders and his participation in the Shanghai Import Expo during his first official visit, reflects that China and Pakistan enjoy very special relations , said Cheng Xizhong, a senior fellow at the Charhar Institute.
The Chinese side attached great importance to the visit as four top leaders, President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Chairman of National People’s Congress Li Zhanshu, and Vice President Wang Qishan held separate meetings with the visiting guest which was the highest courtesy in China, he told APP here on Tuesday.
Cheng, also a former diplomat, said the participation of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the opening ceremony of China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai and his keynote address also showed the close bonds between the two all-weather friends and strategic partners.
When asked to comment on the outcome of the bilateral meetings and the joint statement issued after the successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said the two sides had reaffirmed the traditional special friendly cooperative relationship and one could assess from the joint statement that during the visit, the leaders of the two countries had also given many new dimensions to the bilateral relations.
During the visit, the two sides signed a dozen of agreements and documents to further enhance cooperation in various fields to further cement long-term relations.
He said after the change of government in Pakistan, some elements wanted to be changed in China-Pakistan relations, and they also wished to see closure of some development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Therefore, they launched a negative campaign to divert public opinions against the overall relations between China-Pakistan as well as the CPEC, a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative, launched by President Xi Jinping for the shared development and future prosperity of mankind.
However, the successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a powerful and a positive message and response to the all such designs, he added.
He remarked that once again, it had been proved that the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership was unbreakable.
He expressed the confidence that relations between the two countries would continue to develop and prosper with more vigor after this visit.
Copy Editor/Zu Chuang
Editor/Kang Sijun
Source: Time of Islambad,2018-11-06
Original Link: https://timesofislamabad.com/06-Nov-2018/top-chinese-leadership-meetings-with-pm-imran-khan-a-symbol-of-special-relationship