ISLAMABAD: Pakistani deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday met Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to an ‘all-weather strategic’ partnership between the two nations, after days of controversy that has threatened to strain ties between the longtime allies.
Pakistan-China relations have been in the spotlight in recent months as Beijing has publicly criticized Islamabad about security lapses and threats to its nationals and projects in Pakistan. Last week, Pakistan had to issue a series of clarifications after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reportedly attended an event in Washington where he met people aligned with a political movement opposed to the Chinese state.
On Monday, the Guardian published a report quoting a top Chinese official criticizing Pakistan’s “false rhetoric” around projects that are part of the joint multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and expressing “serious concerns” over the scheme’s future due to security challenges. The Chinese embassy later rejected the contents of the article as “completely false.”
“They reaffirmed the Pak-China All-Weather Strategic Partnership, which is a cornerstone of bilateral relations between the two states,” Dar’s office said in a statement after he met Jiang.
“During the meeting, they reviewed the progress of CPEC 2.0, a significant project aimed at enhancing economic cooperation and regional connectivity. Both sides expressed their commitment to elevating bilateral ties to new heights, further solidifying their strategic partnership.”
Jiang also invited Dar to the UN Security Council event, “Practicing Multilateralism, Reforming and Improving Global Governance,” hosted by China under its presidency of the UNSC on Feb. 18 in New York.
“The Deputy Prime Minister accepted the invitation, underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to multilateral cooperation,” the statement added.
Beijing has pledged to build energy, infrastructure and other projects as part of the over $60 billion CPEC scheme launched in 2015 as a flagship of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative to grant China access to trade routes in Asia and Africa.
Recent attacks, including one in October 2024 in which two Chinese workers were killed in a suicide bombing in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, have forced Beijing to publicly criticize Pakistan and media has widely reported in recent months that China wants its own security forces on the ground to protect its nationals and projects, a demand Islamabad has long resisted.
Progress on the economic corridor has been slow, particularly in the restive southwestern Balochistan province where China is building a deep-sea port and last week opened Pakistan’s largest airport in the coastal town of Gwadar, among other mega projects.
Ethnic separatist groups target Chinese interests in the area, blaming both the governments in Pakistan and China of exploiting the province’s natural resources and neglecting the local population, allegations both Beijing and Islamabad deny. Gwadar residents have held intermittent protests for months, saying Chinese projects in the area have not improved the lives of the local population.
Pakistan has repeatedly assured China it will protect its nationals in the country from militant threats and has tightened security protocols for Chinese investors and nationals. Islamabad says attacks on Chinese nationals are an “international conspiracy” to sour ties.
