Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto Zardari promises to increase security for Chinese nationals in terror attack aftermath
Pakistan has vowed to improve security for Chinese nationals in the country as part of a renewed commitment from Beijing and Islamabad to work together to counter terrorism.
Pakistan's new foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, made the pledge during talks in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on the weekend - a month after three Chinese teachers and their Pakistani driver were killed in suicide bomb attack in Karachi.
"Both parties believe that any terrorist attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan is unacceptable," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement after Bhutto Zardari met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday.
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"Pakistan reiterated that efforts will be made to speed up the investigation [of the suicide bombing], hunt down the culprits, and bring them to justice.
"The two sides reaffirmed that terrorism is the common enemy of humanity."
The ministry said the two countries also agreed to implement an "enhanced version" of a security protection plan specifically for Chinese nationals, institutions and investment projects in Pakistan.
The meeting took place in Guangzhou as much of Beijing was in lockdown to contain an outbreak of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant. Guangzhou is also a familiar commercial hub for Pakistani officials visiting the Canton Fair.
Bhutto Zardari said on Twitter that his "wide-ranging talks" with Wang included discussion of enhanced economic engagement, trade, investment, industrialisation and the US$65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project.
"Both sides are committed to elevating [the] multifaceted partnership to greater heights," he wrote.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said both sides also "reaffirmed their strong support for each other's core interests and building an even stronger China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era".
Bhutto Zardari's trip, his first to China, follows talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York, where the two discussed strengthening US-Pakistan ties, which deteriorated during the administration of former prime minister Imran Khan.
After those talks, the 33-year-old minister, whose mother Benazir Bhutto and grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were former prime ministers of Pakistan, dismissed suggestions that better ties with Washington would harm Islamabad's relations with Beijing.
Wang Dehua, a regional affairs expert at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, said China-Pakistan ties were built not only on economic interests, but also their half a century of defence cooperation.
"The China-Pakistan iron brotherhood has been fostered since the Pakistan-India territorial dispute over Kashmir in the 1960s, with Beijing's long-standing political and military support to Islamabad playing a key role in maintaining peace and stability in South Asia," Wang said.
"China's inclusion of the CPEC in the Belt and Road Initiative is also in the interests of Pakistan.
"No matter which party rules Pakistan, ties between Beijing and Islamabad are irreversible."
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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