Kashmir, economic cooperation: Imran to visit China, Erdogan due in Pakistan in Oct

ISLAMABAD : Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit China to meet Chinese leadership before Oct 10 and President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey will visit Pakistan in second half of October over Kashmir, Afghan & Middle East peace, business and development issues.

China and Turkey have supported resolution of Kashmir issue as per UN Resolutions straight after Aug 5th Indian annexation of Kashmir. Issues like further collaboration to bring up Kashmir issue on agenda of UN Security Council, CPEC, Afghan & Middle East peace, bilateral trade will come up for discussions with Chinese leadership. Turkish president raised Kashmir issue in the most forceful manner during his speech at UN General Assembly and further discussions on Kashmir will be held during his upcoming visit to Pakistan. A wide ranging Strategic Economic Framework (SEF) and Plan of Action (PoA) Document will be signed during Turkish president visit to Pakistan for long term economic cooperation in almost all sectors of economy.

China repeated its position against unilateral annexation of disputed territory of Kashmir and Ladakh by India and its solution as per UN Resolutions in State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi address at UN. Wang Yi conveyed same to Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on September 25 during their meeting on sidelines of UN General Assembly session. Earlier, Indian Foreign & Home Ministers vowed to annex parts of Kashmir region under Pakistan and Home Minister declared to annex part of Kashmir under China. Indian External Affairs Ministry in its September 10th statement asked China and Pakistan to cease work on “so called” CPEC as it passes through territory which belongs to India and is occupied by Pakistan.

A meeting between India and China over border dispute scheduled for September 9 and 10 was cancelled and instead the Chinese Foreign Minister travelled to Pakistan for China Pakistan and Afghanistan dialogue. In a press conference on Sept 16, Indian foreign minister did not confirm the dates of October 11-13 which Indian media mentions for the 2nd informal summit in India between President Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister. A Chinese foreign office spokesman told The News on September 20th about the dates for Chinese president and Indian PM 2nd informal summit next month, that the two sides are in communication on high level interaction going forward and information will be released when available. The spokesman added that in April last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi held a successful informal meeting in Wuhan and created a new model of exchange between leadership to guide bilateral relations to a new development stage.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson in a briefing on Thursday commented China-Pakistan friendship is unbreakable and we stand ready to work with Pakistan to achieve new progress in our bilateral relations. The spokesperson appreciated remarks by Pakistan prime minister in an interview on Sept 23 that China has offered Pakistan a great opportunity to grow its economy and that there have been no so-called “tradeoffs” behind this economic cooperation. Chinese spokesperson added that and fruitful outcome in the development of the CPEC have produced positive socioeconomic benefits and given a strong boost to the national development of Pakistan and improvement of people’s lives. The Chinese, Turkish and Pakistani leadership interaction in October has huge significance for peace and stability in South Asia and Middle East. Both China and Turkey have major foreign policy and business relations in Middle East. Mid-east peace is likely to be one of important points of discussions between leadership of China, Turkey and Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan shared this week in New York that he is playing a role to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Chinese Foreign Minister in his UN address called for a platform for Middle East countries to settle their issues and outside parties should also play a role. The China, Turkey and Pakistan interaction comes at a time when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned global leaders on Tuesday of the looming risk of the world splitting in two, with the United States and China creating rival internets, currency, trade, financial rules “and their own zero sum geopolitical and military strategies.” Accusations by President Trump on Chinese trade handling and practices in his speech at UN General Assembly was rebutted and responded strongly by Chinese Foreign Minister next day at a speech in New York. Chinese Foreign Minister stated that China was not seeking global hegemony and is still in development phase. USA has accused China of predatory Economic in garb of its BRI of which CPEC is an important part. USA has changed its Asia Pacific command name to Indo Pacific to highlight Indian new-found importance as a strategic ally which was in full display at Howdi Modi rally at Houston. Before departure for USA, Indian External Affairs Minister responded in negative to a question about India rethinking to join China’s BRI project.