FO confirms postponement of Chinese President's visit to Pakistan
The visit has been postponed due to ongoing political crisis in Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Foreign Office on Saturday officially announced that the scheduled visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was to take place this month has been postponed and it will be re-scheduled at an early date.
“In view of the current political situation in Pakistan, the Governments of China and Pakistan have mutually agreed to postponement of the state visit of H.E. Xi Jinping, President of China, to Pakistan, which was scheduled to take place later this month,” the Foreign Office said.
The FO further stated that “both countries underline that China and Pakistan are time-tested all-weather friends. Both sides attach high importance to the visit of President Xi Jinping to Pakistan, as early as possible, for promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.”
New dates for the President’s visit to Pakistan are being discussed through diplomatic channels.
It may be mentioned here that earlier on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry downplayed reports of cancellation of President Xi Jinping s Pakistan visit.
"We have never officially released any information about Xi s visit to Pakistan. Therefore there is no ground for you to say that we have cancelled the trip," Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a media briefing.
It would ve been Xi s first to Pakistan since taking office last year. Sharif said that investment agreements worth $34 billion had been expected to be finalized during Xi s stay in Pakistan.
