Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar termed his meeting on Thursday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi “fruitful” as the two leaders discussed various matters of mutual interest.
“We held fruitful and substantive discussions today covering diverse areas of mutual interest,” Dar said, addressing a joint press conference with Wang in Islamabad.
Wang arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier today to attend the sixth Strategic Dialogue between China and Pakistan, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
Pakistan and China share a longstanding strategic partnership with ties ranging across different sectors — including trade, energy, defence and infrastructure. The fifth round of Strategic Dialogue in May 2024 was co-chaired by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart Wang in Beijing.
According to the FO, Wang was received by his Pakistani counterpart Dar.
“He will hold important meetings, including the 6th Strategic Dialogue between China and Pakistan,” the post on X said.
The FO had previously posted that Wang had arrived in Islamabad last night, where he was received by Dar.
“Delighted to receive my dear friend, H.E. Wang Yi, Foreign Minister China, in Pakistan this evening,” Dar wrote on social media yesterday.
He added, “I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at our Dialogue, and with the leadership during his calls on President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.”
Earlier yesterday, the Sixth Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue was held in Kabul between Dar, Wang Yi and Afghan FM Amir Khan Muttaqi, respectively, on the topics of political, economic and security cooperation.
“The three sides committed to strengthening joint efforts against terrorism,“ the FO said. “They also reaffirmed their commitment to deepening collaboration in trade, transit, regional development, health, education, culture, and combating drug trafficking, as well as extension of CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) to Afghanistan.”
Last month, Pakistan and China agreed to launch joint training programmes in multiple fields, including construction engineering, artificial intelligence, agriculture and hospitality management, under the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC-II).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to travel to Beijing at the end of this month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit from August 31 to September 1. On the sidelines, he is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Earlier this week, the government announced that this upcoming visit will mark the formal launch of CPEC-II, focused on industrial cooperation, after a delay of about five years.