ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir has arrived in China on a four-day trip to enhance bilateral military ties between the two nations, the Pakistani military’s media wing said late Monday. 

Pakistan and China have historically shared strong bilateral ties in a range of fields, including economy, development, and military. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China began providing military assistance to Pakistan in 1966 and has since become the nuclear-armed state’s largest supplier of armaments, including fighter jets and guided missile frigates. 

“The COAS (chief of army staff) is on a four-day official visit to China for enhancing bilateral military relations,” the Pakistani military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement. 

This is General Munir’s fourth foreign trip since assuming the office of the army chief in November last year. In January, he visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to enhance defense relationships with both countries. In February, he was invited to the United Kingdom by the British defense ministry to discuss security-related strategic issues. 

Last year, a senior tri-service Pakistani military delegation, led by former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, visited China on June 9-12 as part of the Pak-China Joint Military Cooperation Committee (PCJMCC). 

Shortly before his retirement, General Bajwa visited China again to discuss security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $60-billion project launched in 2013 to strengthen the economy of the South Asian country and increase regional connectivity for prosperity.