Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday met Chinese President Xi Jinping wherein both the leaders reaffirmed their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

The meeting took place in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a PM Office statement said.

During the ‘extremely cordial meeting’, the two leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations between ‘iron brothers’ China and Pakistan, including China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The prime minister said that CPEC remains the highest priority of the government. He thanked China for its steadfast support on all issues of Pakistan’s core interest and expressed satisfaction at the close coordination between the two sides on multilateral issues. He reiterated Pakistan’s firm support to China on all issues of its core interest.

President Xi Jinping acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts to counter terrorism and promote regional stability. The two leaders discussed the regional situation and agreed to enhance coordination to build Pakistan-China community of shared destiny in the new era.

Both sides agreed that the visit of Vice President Wang Qishan had proved to be a milestone in bilateral relations. They expressed satisfaction that Pakistan and China have identical views on various international and regional issues.

The two leaders agreed to closely coordinate on challenges emerging from the changing global dynamics and affirmed that the time-tested Pakistan-China relationship will continue to move from strength to strength.

The prime minister is attending the summit at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Besides Pakistan, SCO members comprise China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO observers include Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus and Mongolia.