Nations pledge joint crackdown on Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement
Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and Pakistan should support each other's core interests and the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will benefit Pakistan and other countries in that region, as the two countries signed deals worth $46 billion.[Special coverage]
Speaking before a joint session of Pakistan's parliament on the second day of his visit to the South Asian country, Xi said China and Pakistan will always move forward together and the Chinese people will always stand together with the Pakistani people. On China's relationship with South Asia, Xi said that China is the region's largest neighbor and that a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia is in China's interests.
"China is willing to align its development strategies with those of South Asian countries to achieve mutually beneficial development and common prosperity," he said.
Xi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif witnessed late Monday the signing of over 50 deals in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, trade and finance.
Over 30 of the deals covered the construction of the CPEC, a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects between southwest Pakistan's Gwadar Port and Kashgar in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
During Xi's state visit to Pakistan, the first project of China's $40 billion Silk Road Fund for the "One Belt, One Road" initiative was also unveiled.
Some $1.65 billion will be invested in China Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd to develop Pakistan's Karot hydropower project and other clean-energy projects.
It is the fund's first investment since its establishment in December, which symbolizes a significant step toward the fund's operations, according to a press release published on the website of the People's Bank of China.
"The large cooperative deals embody the upgraded bilateral ties between the two nations, and the upgraded bilateral ties in turn would help further broaden cooperation in the two countries' economies and development," Fu Xiaoqiang, research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.
China and Pakistan, which have long viewed each other as "iron friends," upgraded their relations to an "all-weather strategic partnership" on Monday.
Describing Pakistan as China's "dependable" friend, Xi stressed that the bilateral ties are based on mutual trust and support, while addressing the joint session of Pakistan's parliament Tuesday.
The first investment of the fund was made in Pakistan because Pakistan places great importance on the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, given that the two nations have maintained very stable and close bilateral ties for decades, Fu said, adding that the obstacles in boosting the initiative in Pakistan will be very small.
Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that China's investment in Pakistan's energy sector would greatly satisfy Pakistan's urgent need for energy and power.
Also, most countries along the "Belt and Road" initiative are facing bottlenecks in economic development, Fu said. China could use its capital and technology to help those countries develop.
"The China-Pakistan cooperation will serve as a model in implementing the initiative," Fu said.
The two countries plan to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion in three years, up from the current $16 billion, according to a joint statement released on early Tuesday.
Xi also praised Pakistan's anti-terror efforts, saying that Pakistan has always stood at the forefront in the fight against terrorism and has made huge sacrifices to that end.
"Over the years Pakistan has overcome all kinds of difficulties and contributed greatly to the security and stability of China's western border areas, and this is something that we shall never forget," Xi told Pakistan's parliament.
The two pledged on Tuesday to make concerted efforts to crack down on the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, a UN-listed terror group.
"The economy and security are like the two wheels of cooperation with Pakistan: both are indispensable," Zhao told the Global Times.
The separatists who are currently active in Xinjiang are believed to have connections with terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Zhao.
Xi also met with Pakistani military officials on Monday, urging the Chinese and Pakistani militaries to sustain high-level visits, and make full use of the China-Pakistan defense and security consultations mechanism.
Xi arrived in Islamabad Monday for his first state visit to Pakistan, and he left for Indonesia late Tuesday to attend the Asian-African Summit and activities to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference.
