| Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa leads senior level tri-service military delegation to China

RAWALPINDI   -   Pakistan and China have reaffirmed their strategic bilateral partnership in challenging times and agreed to continue regular exchange of perspectives on issues of mutual interests, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate said here yesterday.

According to the ISPR statement, this commitment was reiterated during a high profile meeting between Pakistani and Chinese military leadership held in Qingdao, the port city in China’s eastern Shandong province, on Sunday.

The Pakistani side was headed by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa while the Chinese side was led by General Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman Central Military Commission of China.

Both the sides discussed their perspectives on international and regional security situation, and expressed satisfaction over the defence cooperation between the two countries. They also vowed to enhance their training, technology and counterterrorism cooperation at the tri-service level.

On the occasion, China’s Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia said that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and the two sides have maintained close coordination and firmly support each other on issues involving each other’s core interests over the years.

He said that Beijing was willing to build up communication with Islamabad, strengthen cooperation, deepen pragmatic exchanges, properly respond to the complex factors in the regional situation, and promote the in-depth development of bilateral relations, according to the Ministry of National Defence of China.

During the meeting, Gen. Bajwa said that the friendship between Pakistan and China was unbreakable and as strong as a rock, and no matter how the international and regional situation changes, Pakistan will firmly stand with China at any time.

He said that Pakistan was willing to further strengthen dialogue and coordination with the Chinese army, carry out mutually beneficial cooperation, combat terrorist forces, strive to improve the ability of both sides to deal with various security challenges, safeguard the common interests of the two countries, and contribute to regional peace.

The ISPR said that a senior level tri-service military delegation of Pakistan visited China from 9 to 12 June 2022. The delegation held wide ranging discussions with the senior officials of Chinese military and other government departments.