ISLAMABAD: High-level contacts between Pakistan and China are expected in a few days.
Pakistan and China will hold a series of high-level contacts and meetings over the next three weeks to deepen economic, political and strategic ties. In the first phase of the meetings, talks between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be organized in the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit Beijing with a delegation for the Strategic Dialogue in the middle of this month. These are annual dialogues in which the two countries discuss mutual cooperation on regional and global issues.
After Ishaq Dar’s visit, a delegation headed by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal will go to the Chinese capital where an important meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee on CPEC will be held. These visits of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Planning will pave the way for the visit of Shehbaz Sharif, who will become the Prime Minister after the February 8 election, to China.
Sources say that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to China may take place in the first week of June. Since the new government took over, Pakistan has intensified diplomatic relations.
The Prime Minister has made two visits to Saudi Arabia within a few weeks to bring in investments under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister also visited Pakistan. Meanwhile, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi also visited Pakistan, which was the first visit of a foreign leader to Pakistan since February 8.
According to diplomatic sources, two important figures are expected to arrive in Pakistan in this context. Turkish President Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are expected to visit Pakistan. Shahbaz Sharif’s government is hoping that the visits of these two personalities will give a big benefit to the struggle for economic recovery in Pakistan.
On Saturday, Foreign Minister Ishaq Darnay met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal on the sidelines of the 15th OIC Islamic Summit in Banjul, Gambia.
