Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong paid an official visit to Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Monday. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to broaden their counter-terrorism and security cooperation framework.
Chinese state-owned media house Global Times stated, “The agreement shows that the China-Pakistan partnership will stand the test of the terrorist attack and become even stronger.” The media house also quoted Alvi saying that Pakistan will “firmly safeguard Chinese projects, personnel and institutions in Pakistan.”
A press release from the Pakistani President’s office said: “Offering condolences to the Government of China and the bereaved families who lost their dear ones in Dasu, the President underscored that the security of Chinese nationals, working in various projects in Pakistan, was the highest priority of Pakistan and the Government was making all-out efforts for their protection and security.”
China and Pakistan are strengthening their security cooperation framework in the wake of an explosion in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month that caused a bus to tumble into a ravine, resulting in the death of 12 people. The casualties included nine Chinese nationals, following which the Chinese Foreign Ministry called for an investigation into the incident. Several Chinese passengers in the bus were engineers, surveyors, and mechanical staff working at the China-funded hydroelectric project in Dasu in the Upper Kohistan district.
In an initial response, the Chinese Embassy and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the incident was caused due to an “attack.” Zhao expressed his “shock and condemnation over the bombing” and urged Pakistani authorities to “severely punish” the perpetrators and “earnestly protect” Chinese citizens and projects in the country.
Over the years, China and Pakistan have grown increasingly closer due to their common rivalry with India and the Belt and Road Initiative that includes the critical China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). In this regard, Nong and Alvi also exchanged views on bilateral relations, cooperation in fighting COVID-19, construction of the CPEC, and international and regional cooperation.
President Alvi also hoped “to further strengthen cooperation in Gwadar Port, industry and information technology, and realise trade and digital connectivity” and “learn from China’s development experience in education, health and other social and livelihood areas. For his part, the Chinese Ambassador pledged that his country would provide six million vaccine doses to Pakistan this week while 100 million vaccine doses would be supplied by the end of the year.