ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Pakistan Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday arrived in China’s Xinjiang province, his office said, in a rare visit to the Muslim-majority region where China is accused of containing detention facilities.
Successive governments in Islamabad have shied away from acknowledging the allegations of mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities by its key economic ally in the northwestern region that borders Pakistan.
Kakar traveled to China this week to attend a summit hosted by President Xi Jinping in Beijing to celebrate his Belt and Road Initiative, China’s plan for global infrastructure, energy networks to connect Asia with Africa and Europe.
On Friday, he offered prayers at the main Hangyang mosque in the city of Urumqi, the capital of the region, and addressed a gathering of students and scholars at the Xinjiang University, according to a statement from Kakar’s office.
“In his address, the Prime Minister underscored that his visit to Xinjiang represented a milestone in the enduring relationship between Pakistan and China,” the statement read.
“Prime Minister Kakar lauded the strategic significance of Xinjiang as a frontier of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and noted the region’s historical role as a hub of connectivity as part of the ancient Silk Road.”
Since its initiation in 2013, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan. But the undertaking has been hit by Islamabad’s struggle to keep up with its financial obligations as well as militant attacks on Chinese targets.
Beijing says it has been defending itself against rising separatist militancy in Xinjiang, and that the detention facilities are voluntary centers for teaching vocational skills, closed years ago after their inhabitants “graduated” into stable employment.
The statement issued by Kakar’s office made no mention of the alleged human rights abuses.
The Pakistan PM later met with Ma Xingrui, member of the Politburo of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and party secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to friendship with China, the prime minister emphasized that Islamabad’s relationship with China was the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and an anchor for regional peace and development.
“He stressed the importance of deepening of linkages between Xinjiang and the neighboring areas of Pakistan in diverse fields of cooperation, ranging from trade and investment to cultural and people-to-people ties,” Kakar’s office said.
“The two sides agreed to work together to harness the full potential of cooperation between Xinjiang and the neighboring areas of Pakistan.”
The prime minister also held meetings with Li Yifei, deputy party secretary of the region, and Abdureqip Tumulniyaz, imam of the Hangyang mosque and dean of the Xinjiang Islamic Institutev.
