Asim Munir meets Xi Jinping in Beijing alongside Pak PM Sharif

Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir met Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time on Tuesday (September 2) along with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the two sides held elaborate discussions on wide-ranging issues concerning bilateral and regional cooperation.

Met Xi as part of Pak’s SCO delegation

Munir met the Chinese President as part of Sharif’s delegation for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, a day after the summit concluded.

During the summit, the SCO members condemned the Pahalgam terror attack in a joint declaration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though not mentioning Pakistan directly, said that “some nations” were using terrorism as a state policy.

Munir is scheduled to attend a grand parade of the Chinese army to be held here on Wednesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

During his first visit to China in July after taking over as Field Marshal, Munir met Vice President Han Zheng but not President Xi, unlike his predecessor General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

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Earlier meeting with Trump

Following an earlier visit to China, Munir was hosted by US President Donald Trump, a rare gesture by an American leader which raised eyebrows in China, considering Pak-China all-weather ties. While Xi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other leaders, who attended the SCO summit in Tianjin, Sharif was allocated the slot on Tuesday to meet the Chinese President in Beijing.

Munir was expected to join Sharif to watch the parade in which the Chinese military plans to display its most modern weapons of all varieties, including aerial, ground, electronic and missile systems.

The Chinese weapon systems are of particular interest to Pakistan as over 80 per cent of its weapons acquisitions are from China. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who was also part of the team, said that during the meeting, the two sides held wide-ranging talks on bilateral & regional cooperation.

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Xi bats for strong China-Pakistan ties

Xi said that as global changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a quicker pace, a strong China-Pakistan relationship is conducive to safeguarding regional peace and development.

The two sides should accelerate building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, to bring more benefits to the two peoples and set up a model for the broader neighbourhood, he said.

China stands ready to work with Pakistan to build upgraded versions of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, and hopes Pakistan will take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan, Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

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Sharif pledges support to one-China principle

As for Sharif, he lauded the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), proposed by Xi at the SCO summit to improve global governance, saying it is of great significance for world peace, development and stability, and Pakistan will give it full support and work actively to implement it.

Pakistan firmly sticks to the one-China principle, and looks forward to further strengthening friendship between the two countries and advancing cooperation in all fields, said Sharif, promising to spare no effort in ensuring the safety of all Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.

(With agency inputs)