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Islamabad (manend News) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday he looked forward to meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping along with other world leaders as he departed for China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
The SCO summit, to be held in the northern port city of China’s Tianjin on Sunday and Monday, will gather more than 20 world leaders in a powerful show of Global South solidarity, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and India’s PM Narendra Modi.
Terming his visit “historic”, PM Shehbaz said on X today: “I look forward to meeting H.E. President Xi Jinping and other world leaders to further build upon our bilateral ties with China, our All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner, as well as with other key countries of the region […]”
The premier expressed his aim to “enhance regional cooperation, strengthen multilateralism, and advance shared goals for peace and prosperity”.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa), the prime minister would hold meetings with President Xi and Premier Li Qiang, “during which multifaceted dimensions of Pakistan-China bilateral cooperation would be discussed”.
“He would also attend the military parade with President Xi and other world leaders being held in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the World’s Anti-Fascist War,” the Mofa added.
PM Shehbaz, as per the statement, would “interact with reputed Chinese businessmen and corporate executives to discuss bilateral trade, economic and investment ties”. He would also address a Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference in Beijing.
The statement highlighted that the visit was a part of leadership-level exchanges between the two countries.
“It manifests the importance attached by the two countries to further deepen their All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership, reaffirm support on issues of respective core interests, advance Phase-II of CPEC and maintain regular communication on important regional and global developments,” Mofa said.
Leaders from Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia have been invited to the 25th SCO Heads of State Council.
The summit will also feature Modi’s first visit to China in more than seven years as the two neighbours work on further defusing tensions roiled by deadly border clashes in 2020.
Last week, the government said that PM Shehbaz’s visit to China will mark the formal launch of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC-II), focused on industrial cooperation, after a delay of about five years.
“Prime minister’s upcoming visit will mark the formal launch of CPEC Phase-II, with both sides expected to set clear priorities and agree on tangible, measurable outcomes,” an official announcement had said, quoting Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, focal person on the multi-billion-dollar bilateral initiative.
In July, the two countries decided to form technical working groups to explore and implement projects focusing on high-yield cotton seed development, advanced water-saving irrigation technologies, and modern farming techniques.