Chinese FM Qin Gang arrives in Pakistan on two-day visit

Pakistan

Minister to hold meetings with Bilawal, Afghan FM Muttaqi

05 May,2023 07:15 pm

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Newly sworn Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Friday landed in Pakistan on his maiden two-day official visit to the country.

Mr Gang would attend the fourth round of the Sino-Pak Strategic Dialogue, co-chaired by the Chinese FM and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto. The strategic dialogue is a structured mechanism that reviews bilateral cooperation in key areas.

Moreover, he would also participate in a trilateral dialogue comprising Afghanistan’s interim FM Amir Khan Muttaqi and Mr Bhutto.

“The two sides will reaffirm the abiding vitality of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership; develop a roadmap for multidimensional cooperation between Pakistan and China; and discuss the evolving regional and global landscape,” it was further added.

The third round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue had taken place in July 2021 in Chengdu, China.

Earlier, MoFA spokesperson said that Mr Muttaqi was scheduled to visit Pakistan from May 5 to 8, along with a high-level delegation.

The visit of the Acting Afghan Foreign Minister is a continuation of Pakistan’s political engagement process with Afghanistan, which, inter alia, included a visit of Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs to Kabul on November 29, 2022, and visit of a high-level delegation led by the Defence Minister of Pakistan to Kabul on February 22, 2023.

During the visit, the two sides will review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the political, economic, trade, connectivity, peace and security, and education domains.

Earlier at the sidelines of the SCO meeting in India's city of Goa, he had come across Mr Bhutto and vowed to work together for regional peace and prosperity of our peoples. Mr Bhutto is on a two-day official tour to India starting May 4.