Pakan FM Bilawal Bhutto in Guangzhou on maiden visit to China for talks with Wang Yi

Pakan’s new Foreign Miner Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will hold talks on Sunday in the Chinese city of Guangzhou to firm-up the all-weather ties between the two countries.
This is Bilawal’s maiden visit to China after he took over as Foreign Miner following the fall of Imran Khan government.
Their meeting was being held in Guangzhou as Beijing is currently under semi-lockdown to contain the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the Covid-19.
“Landed in Guangzhou on my first bilateral visit. Today also marks 71st anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakan and China. Looking forward to meeting Chinese State Councilor & Foreign Miner Wang Yi for in-depth discussions on Pakan-China relations”, Bilawal tweeted.

The 33-year old, whose mother Benazir Bhutto and grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were former prime miners, is just back from New York where he held talks with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed strengthening the US-Pakan relations which deteriorated during the previous Imran Khan regime.
In his interviews to the media after his talks with Blinken, Bilawal ruled out that Pakan’s growing relationship with the US would hurt its ties to Beijing.
Bilawal is accompanied Miner of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and senior officials, Pakan state-run APP news agency reported earlier.
Ahead of his visit, Chinese Foreign Minry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Saturday congratulated Pakan and China on the 71st anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.
<strong><span style=”color: #ff0000;”>Buy Now</span> | <a href=”https:///subscribe/all-access/?ref=article” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Our best subscription plan now has a special price</a></strong>
“Congratulations! May 21 is the 71st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakan. FM Bilawal will visit China from May 21. #Thisisdoublehappiness,” he tweeted from his official account.
Foreign Miner Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s two-day visit marks the 71st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakan and China.
On May 21, 1951, Pakan and China established diplomatic ties almost a year after India.
India became the first non-Commun country in Asia to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China on April 1, 1950.
Bilawal already held talks with Wang through video link on May 12 followed a virtual meeting between Sharif and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Their talks were focussed on strengthening the safeguarding of safety for Chinese citizens and institutions in Pakan in view of the spate of attacks on Chinese nationals including the recent suicide bomb attack at the Karachi University and revitalising the USD 60 billion China-Pakan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is bogged down delays.

India protested to China as the CPEC is being laid through the Pakan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Close ties between Pakan-China in the last four decades widely believed to be aimed at countering India remained steady despite the periodic political crisis in Pakan leading to a change of governments including those the military rulers.
During their talks, Bilawal and Wang will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, with a particular focus on stronger trade and economic cooperation between Pakan and China, Pakan Foreign Office said on Friday.
In April, Bilawal’s predecessor Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his visit to China has announced that Beijing has agreed to roll-over USD 4.5 billion debt due to be paid Pakan this year.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Bilawal’s visit will see his hope of taking China as the first destination of his overseas visits realised and also marks the first in-person high-level interaction between the two countries since the new Pakani government was formed.

“As all-weather strategic cooperative partners, it is necessary for China and Pakan to strengthen communication and coordination on major strategic issues and jointly respond to new developments in the international and regional situation and various risks and challenges,” Wang Wenbin said.
He said Wang Yi will hold a comprehensive and in-depth exchange of views with Bilawal on bilateral relations and issues of common interest.
“China hopes to take this visit as an opportunity to renew our traditional friendship, consolidate strategic mutual trust, further deepen our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and build a closer China-Pakan community with a shared future in the new era,” the spokesman said.