ISLAMABAD: The US-Iran crisis is expected to feature prominently in talks between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing today, Monday, officials said, as Pakistan and China deepen diplomatic coordination over a conflict that has disrupted global energy markets and raised fears of wider regional instability.
Sharif is scheduled to meet Xi, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other senior Chinese leaders during the Beijing leg of his four-day visit to China, which comes amid intensifying diplomatic activity surrounding the fragile US-Iran peace process.
Pakistan has increasingly coordinated its diplomatic efforts with China, which has emerged as a key backer of Islamabad’s mediation initiative. Beijing and Islamabad have jointly promoted a five-point peace proposal calling for a ceasefire, dialogue, protection of civilian and nuclear facilities, safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and adherence to the United Nations Charter.
“The prime minister will hold meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and other senior Chinese leaders,” Sharif’s office said in a statement on Monday.
“Both leaders [Sharif and Li] will additionally participate in a ceremony for the exchange of memorandums of understanding and agreements between Pakistan and China,” it added.
The PMO said Sharif is also scheduled to meet major Chinese investors and company chief executives during the visit.
Last week, Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed the US-Iran crisis would be discussed during Sharif’s meetings in China.
“Pakistan and China have been in close coordination on the standoff in the Middle East and the Gulf,” foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad on Friday.
“Yes, this issue [US-Iran peace process] will be discussed during the prime minister’s visit,” he added, saying Beijing had supported Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the crisis.
The diplomatic coordination comes after Pakistan intensified mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington in recent weeks, including high-level visits to Iran by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir last week.
Munir concluded talks in Tehran on Saturday, after which Pakistan’s military said negotiations had made “encouraging progress towards a final understanding” linked to the US-Iran conflict.
The crisis erupted in February after joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered months of confrontation across the Middle East, including disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime corridor carrying roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies.
Alongside regional security discussions, Sharif’s China visit is also focused on expanding economic cooperation and attracting fresh Chinese investment as Pakistan seeks to stabilize its economy under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program.
On Sunday, Pakistani and Chinese firms signed cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding worth $1.22 billion at a business conference in Hangzhou, according to Pakistan’s information ministry.
The agreements focus on sectors including renewable energy, electric vehicle infrastructure, pharmaceutical manufacturing, agriculture and smart technologies.
Pakistan and China are also expected to discuss the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Beijing’s flagship infrastructure and connectivity initiative under the Belt and Road Initiative.
