Beijing: Days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India, Xi lauded Beijing's friendship with Islamabad as 'unbreakable and rock-solid' despite changes in the international and regional situation.
Xi made the remarks when he met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse here, two days before he leaves for India to hold the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In Islamabad, the PM Office in a press release said that Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked Xi and the Chinese government for its 'principled stance' on the Kashmir issue.
Beijing, the all-weather ally of Islamabad, has backed Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, with its Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his address to the UN General Assembly saying, "no actions that would unilaterally change the status quo should be taken."
During Imran Khan's visit, Xi said that China is ready to work with Pakistan to forge a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future in the new era.
Noting that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners, Xi said, "No matter how the international and regional situation changes, the friendship between China and Pakistan has always been unbreakable and rock-solid, and China-Pakistan cooperation has always maintained strong vitality."
Khan's visit to China, third since he took over as Prime Minister in August last year, acquires significance as it comes ahead of President Xi's high-profile visit to India for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Modi at Mamallapuram near Chennai on October 11 and 12.
Khan's visit to Beijing comes at a time when tensions have spiked between Pakistan and India after New Delhi ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.
According to the press release, Prime Minister Khan briefed Xi about the current situation in the country, sharing that Pakistan had come out of a difficult economic situation.
"We will never forget China's financial cooperation in this regard," he was quoted as saying, adding that China had helped Pakistan without "any conditionality".
Prime Minister Khan said that China provided Pakistan with the opportunity to come out of a very difficult economic situation and appreciated the Chinese support under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework.
It said President Xi lauded Khan for speaking about Pakistan-China relations during the UNGA, and said that both countries enjoy close friendly relations and cooperated with each other in different fields.
Prime Minister Khan, who is on a two-day visit to China, met his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang on Tuesday. Khan was accompanied by Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa during his meeting with Li.
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