World

Pakistan, China agree to enhance intelligence sharing in meeting of security czars – World

Pakistan and China agreed to further improve mutual intelligence sharing in a meeting between their interior ministers on Wednesday.

The development came in a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Chinese counterpart Qi Yanjun during the former’s visit to Beijing. Naqvi is part of a delegation led by President Asif Ali Zardari that landed in China a day ago and also includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Senator Saleem Mandviwala, and Dr Asim Hussain.

The interaction between Naqvi and his Chinese counterpart lasted two hours and came in the backdrop of attacks on Chinese personnel working in Pakistan that have angered China, which has pushed the federal government to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system.

Pakistan’s ongoing counter-terrorism efforts remain a key topic of discussion between the two countries due to the rising frequency of attacks targeting Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.

Of the major attacks that have targeted Chinese citizens in Pakistan since 2021, the biggest one was when at least 12 persons, including nine Chinese engineers and two Frontier Corps personnel, were killed when a bus was attacked near the Dasu hydropower plant in KP’s Upper Kohistan district in July 2021.

Aside from vowing to enhance intelligence sharing between the two nations, the interior ministers also discussed cooperation to further secure the border between the two countries, in addition to the use of modern technology for police and paramilitary forces.

The two officials also led a detailed discussion on acquiring modern equipment and technology for the police from China.

Cooperation with the National Police Academy was also discussed by the two officials who further decided to increase cooperation between the Beijing Police and Islamabad Police.

They also expressed satisfaction over a meeting of the Joint Working Group in January in which the two sides had reaffirmed their commitment to high-quality development of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with an emphasis on industrialisation, special economic zones, clean energy, agriculture and livelihood projects.

Meanwhile, President Zardari underscored the time-tested and all-weather friendship between the two countries which continued to grow in depth and scope over the decades in a meeting with Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress and China’s third highest-ranking official behind President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

The two officials underlined “strategic mutual trust” as the cornerstone of their bilateral relationship and emphasised the importance of continued high-level exchanges to further deepen ongoing practical cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides also discussed the high-quality development of CPEC’s second phase with a particular emphasis on promoting cooperation in science and technology, renewable energy, infrastructure and agriculture sectors.

They described CPEC as a “shining example of people-centric development with its focus on win-win cooperation, shared benefits and common prosperity”.

The president and the Chinese officials also discussed opportunities to strengthen institutional linkages, including through parliamentary exchanges and participation in the CPEC Political Parties Joint Consultative Mechanism, to further solidify bilateral cooperation.

Source Link