ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have resolved to continue “bilateral cooperation for regional peace, development and stability,” the Pakistani foreign office said on Tuesday, following a four-day military conflict between Pakistan and India.
The statement came during Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s three-day visit to Beijing after Pakistan and India exchanged missiles, drones and artillery fire until the United States brokered a ceasefire on May 10.
Pakistan declared a victory in the standoff, saying its air force used Chinese J-10C aircraft to shoot down six Indian fighter jets, including three French Rafales, and the army targeted several Indian military installations during the recent flare-up.
Dar on Tuesday held in-depth consultations with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the evolving situation in South Asia and the future trajectory of Pakistan-China partnership, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the commonality of views on all issues of mutual interest and expressed their firm resolve to continue bilateral cooperation for regional peace, development and stability,” it said in a statement.
For China, Pakistan is a strategic and economic ally. Beijing is investing over $60 billion to build infrastructure, energy and other projects in Pakistan as part of its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
India and China, on the other hand, are competing regional giants and nuclear powers and widely seen as long-term strategic rivals, sharing a 3,800 Himalayan border that has been disputed since the 1950s and sparked a brief war in 1962.
The most recent standoff — that started in 2020 — thawed in October as the two sides struck a patrolling agreement.
Dar, who is also the foreign minister of Pakistan, earlier began his day with a meeting with Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), who reiterated that “China will continue to prioritize its relations with Pakistan as an All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner and ironclad friend.”
Pakistan’s foreign office said in an earlier statement that Dar would discuss with Chinese leaders “the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability.”
“The two sides will also review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,” the statement added.
The conflict between India and Pakistan has offered the world a first real glimpse into how advanced Chinese military technology performs against proven Western hardware and Chinese defense stocks have already been surging as a result.
A rising military superpower, China hasn’t fought a major war in more than four decades but has raced under President Xi Jinping to modernize its armed forces, pouring resources into developing sophisticated weaponry and cutting-edge technologies.
It has also extended that modernization drive to Pakistan, long hailed by Beijing as its “ironclad brother.”
Over the past five years, China has supplied 81 percent of Pakistan’s imported weapons, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Those exports include advanced fighter jets, missiles, radars and air-defense systems. Some Pakistan-made weapons have also been co-developed with Chinese firms or built with Chinese technology and expertise.
