BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping hailed Beijing’s “unbreakable” friendship with Pakistan on Monday as he met visiting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, seeking to deepen their “all-weather” partnership.
Pakistan is among an exclusive group of countries China regards as an “all-weather strategic partner,” with ties featuring close economic, trade and security cooperation. But repeated Islamist militant attacks on Chinese nationals and projects in the South Asian country have emerged as an irritant, while Islamabad’s warming ties with Washington have added complexity to its ties with Beijing.
Greeting Sharif at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi called the Pakistani leader an “old friend” and said the two countries had “understood, trusted and supported each other” over decades, forging an “unbreakable traditional friendship.”
“No matter how the international situation changes, China always prioritizes the development of China-Pakistan relations in its neighborhood diplomacy,” Xi said.
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