ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said on Thursday that a planned visit to Pakistan of Chinese President Xi Jinping had been rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistani media has reported.
While speaking to journalists at a local mall in Rawalpindi, Yao said the governments of China and Pakistan were working to finalize a new date for Xi’s visit, which would be announced soon. He said President Xi would visit Pakistan on the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The envoy expressed satisfaction over progress in projects under the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement, saying both nations were aware of threats to the corridor posed by common ‘enemies’.
“We will not allow the enemies to succeed in their nefarious designs and CPEC projects will continue despite the challenge of COVID-19 on both sides,” Yao was quoted by Pakistani media as saying.
CPEC has seen Beijing pledge over $60 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, central to China’s wider Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop land and sea trade routes in Asia and beyond.
Separately on Thursday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met Yao and emphasized the need for greater cooperation between Pakistan and China in the agriculture sector.
There is a greater need to revamp and modernize agriculture sector with China’s co-operation and unleash the Second Green Revolution in Pakistan,” Qureshi said in a statement.
He said China in recent years had introduced wide-ranging reforms in its agriculture sector that had contributed significantly to the country’s GDP growth and strengthened and diversified its research and development capacity.
“It was imperative that Pakistan benefits from China’s experiences,” the statement said, adding that Qureshi said “deeper agriculture cooperation between China and Pakistan will lead to job creation, enhancing agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and stimulating economic recovery in Pakistan in the aftermath of COVID-19.”
Welcoming the establishment of the Joint Working Group on Agriculture Cooperation under CPEC, Qureshi said the inclusion of agriculture under the CPEC umbrella would promote industrialization and modernization of the agriculture economy.
Chinese president reschedules Pakistan visit due to COVID-19
https://arab.news/b8qmn
Chinese president reschedules Pakistan visit due to COVID-19
- Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao says both nations working together to finalize a new date for Xi’s trip
- Pakistani foreign minister emphasizes need for greater cooperation between Pakistan and China in agriculture sector
Bangladesh approves new rice imports from Pakistan amid price pressures
- The deal follows Bangladesh’s resumption of direct rice trade with Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since independence in 1971
- Diplomatic ties between the two nations have improved since the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina after mass protests last year
DHAKA: Bangladesh has approved the import of 50,000 metric tons of white rice from Pakistan under a government-to-government deal as part of efforts to stabilize domestic prices, officials said on Tuesday.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase cleared the deal at $395 per ton, reinforcing Dhaka’s renewed trade engagement with Islamabad.
Rice prices in Bangladesh have jumped by between 15 percent and 20 percent over the past year, with medium-quality rice selling at about 80 taka ($0.66) per kilogram. Despite increased imports and the removal of duties to ease supply constraints, prices for the staple grain remain stubbornly high.
The deal follows Bangladesh’s resumption of direct rice trade with Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since independence in 1971. In February, it imported 50,000 tons of rice from Pakistan at $499 per ton under a similar agreement.
Diplomatic ties between the two South Asian nations have improved since an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took office after mass protests forced then prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to neighboring India last year.
Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh gained independence after a nine-month war in 1971, and relations with Pakistan have remained fraught in the decades since the conflict.
Separately, the government approved another 50,000 tons of parboiled rice through an international tender, part of a series of recent purchases aimed at cooling local prices. India’s Pattabhi Agro Foods secured the contract with the lowest bid of $355.77 per ton.
