‘Pak-China relations going from strength to strength’

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil-ur-Rehman Hashmi has said that relationship between Pakistan and China is growing from strength to strength.

Mr Hashmi was delivering keynote address at an In-house Roundtable Discussion on “Pakistan-China relations” hosted here by Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS). He provided a comprehensive analysis of China’s rise, Beijing’s engagement with the region and the world, and the current state of play in bilateral relations.

Mr Hashmi also underlined the efforts of the Pakistan mission in Beijing towards imparting greater depth and substance to the trade, investment and economic dimensions of the relationship. He referred to visits of Prime Ministers, ministerial parleys and visits from armed forces to each other’s country including Minister for the International Department of Communist Party of China.

Participants engaged in a wide-ranging exchange of ideas during the interactive session, emphasising the importance of sustained collaboration, improvement of business-to-business (B2B) interface and enhanced people-to-people exchanges. The participants stressed the vital importance of policy foresight and preparedness to maximise the potential of this critical partnership in a changing global order. The event concluded with a renewed commitment to further strengthening the Pakistan-China relationship in light of contemporary challenges and opportunities.

Earlier, in his welcome remarks, Sohail Mahmood, Director-General, ISS, reaffirmed the Institute’s commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue on Pakistan’s strategic relationships, particularly the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

He highlighted the steady progression of Pakistan-China relations since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, the salience of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the implications of the evolving global order marked by major-power contestation and growing multi-polarity.