Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan about 14 months ago. For the third time since then, he arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on a tour of China. Hours before reaching the capital of China, Pakistan's military spokesman said on Twitter that Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa has arrived to hold a meeting with the Chinese military leadership. The tweet wrote that Bajwa will also attend the meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang with Imran Khan.

Pakistan and China have been calling their friendship stronger than the Himalayas and sweeter than honey.

However, the Pakistani political leadership's visit comes just before the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India. On the other hand, two months of the restrictions of the Government of India in Kashmir, India, have been completed. So analysts are very interested in this strategic visit to Imran.

Speaking to the BBC, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the second phase of the visit is the biggest agenda on the economic cooperation between the two countries, especially the second round on the economic corridor between China and Pakistan.

However, he said that China and Pakistan cooperate with each other on all issues, including all global issues including bilateral, so the visit should be seen as an ongoing process. Especially before the Chinese President's visit to India.

Qureshi said, "Before going to India, President Xi Jinping wants to consult Pakistan, he wants to be fully aware of Pakistan's point of view."

The Foreign Minister of Pakistan believes that there can be time spent on such issues so that President Jinping has a thorough knowledge of the situation in Pakistan before going to India. His reference was to the fresh political atmosphere and military skirmishes since the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A in Kashmir.

According to the details of the visit released from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister Imran Khan will sign several agreements and draft of economic cooperation during his three-day visit.

According to the official statement, Prime Minister Imran Khan will exchange views on regional development including the situation related to the issue of peace and security born in Indian Kashmir from 5 August 2019 onwards.

President of Pakistan China Institute, Mushahid Hussain Syed believes that this visit of Imran Khan is very important from political and diplomatic point of view.

He says, "Just as China has supported Pakistan's position since August 5, the specific purpose of the visit is to create political and strategic coordination between Pakistan and China before President Xi Jinping's visit to India."

Mushahid Hussain Syed said, "We need to formulate our strategy on Kashmir in coordination with China because China is also a party to this dispute. India has illegally occupied China's land in Ladakh and the region has got new Union Territory has been included. Therefore the leadership of China and Pakistan will move forward on this issue together with a strategic mind. ''

However, political expert Dr. Nazir believes that the action taken by India in Kashmir has certainly hurt China. They refer to the airstrip being built in Ladakh and a report on the things hidden under it.

China is not happy with the actions taking place in this disputed region. So Xi Jinping can use his tour of India to improve things in this regard. But the problem is that India has taken steps on it and it is adamant on it.

How important is economic cooperation with China for Pakistan's ailing economy. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will meet senior representatives of the Chinese trade and corporate sector to further strengthen bilateral trade, commercial and investment partnerships.

In addition, Prime Minister Imran Khan will apprise the Chinese leadership of the government's recent historic decisions to speed up the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

Mushahid Hussain Syed says that the expansion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will also be discussed on this tour.

"Now they also want to add Afghanistan as a new member to this economic corridor. Therefore, a project to connect Peshawar to Kabul will also be considered in this tour," he says.

(Click here for Android APP of IBTN. You can follow us on facebook and Twitter)

Share This News

About sharing