FM Qin Gang’s visit to Pakistan highly successful, brought two friendly countries further closer: FO
Islamabad: Pakistan has said that China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s visit to Pakistan was highly successful and brought the two friendly countries further closer.
“Pakistan and China are close friends. The Chinese Foreign Minister shared his best wishes for stability and consensus in Pakistan so that it can focus on growing the economy improving people’s lives and bringing the country into a fast track towards development,” said Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office at a news briefing here.
She mentioned that Foreign Minister Qin Gang paid an official visit to Pakistan on 5 and 6 May 2023. “Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and State Councillor Qin Gang co-chaired the 4th round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue, covering a wide agenda of bilateral issues,” she reminded.
The two sides, she maintained, reaffirmed the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership; agreed to develop a roadmap for multidimensional cooperation and discussed the evolving regional and global landscape.
They reiterated enduring support on issues concerning each other’s core national interests”. Welcoming the completion of a decade of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) in 2023, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to high-quality development of CPEC,” she added.
Baloch mentioned that the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue was held on 6th May 2023. “The three sides agreed to advance political engagement, counterterrorism cooperation and enhance trade, investment and connectivity under the trilateral framework,” she elaborated.
Baloch underlined that last week was an active week in Pakistan’s diplomacy. “Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari travelled to Goa, India to attend the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting. The agenda of the SCO meeting included discussion on issues of regional security, economic cooperation and connectivity as well as SCO’s stance on global economic and political developments,” she remarked.
Baloch said the Pakistan Foreign Minister highlighted Pakistan’s vision for peace and prosperity in the SCO region. “He proposed building of efficient transport corridors and reliable supply chains in the region and stressed that CPEC could be a force multiplier for regional connectivity,” she highlighted.
Recalling SCO’s commitment to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the Foreign Minister emphasized that unilateral and illegal measures in violation of international law and the UN Security Council Resolutions also ran counter to the SCO objectives, the spokesperson added.
On the sidelines of CFM, the Foreign Minister held important meetings with his counterparts from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as well as Secretary General of SCO.
The CFM afforded Pakistan an important opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to SCO and present its vision for addressing major regional and global issues, she said.
Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has actively and constructively participated in all SCO activities and mechanisms and worked for enhanced cooperation in pursuance of SCO’s multisectoral agenda, the spokesperson underscored.
