ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan should make cooperation on power generation a priority, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said, as Islamabad seeks to end an energy crisis that triggers power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, bringing the economy to a near standstill.

Li arrived in the Pakistan capital under extra-tight security on Wednesday on the second leg of his first official trip since taking office in March and after a visit to Pakistan and China’s arch rival, India.

Li’s plane was escorted by six air force fighter jets as it entered Pakistani air space. Security measures also included shutting down mobile phone networks briefly across the city.

Pakistan was one of the first countries to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, in 1950, and Li told a lunch attended by Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Zardari that China and Pakistan should remain “trustworthy partners.”

Li said there was still “great potential” for the relationship. Bilateral trade last year rose above $12 billion for the first time and both sides are aiming to reach $15 billion in the next two or three years.

“Our two sides should focus on carrying out priority projects in connectivity, energy development and power generation and promoting the building of a China-Pakistan economic corridor,” Li told media.

The power shortages have sparked violent protests and crippled key industries, costing hundreds of thousands of jobs in a country already beset by high unemployment, a failing economy, widespread poverty, sectarian bloodshed and a Taliban insurgency.

AGREEMENTS

The two countries signed a series of cooperation documents covering the economy, culture, and science and technology.

Pakistan and China signed eleven agreements, Memoranda of Understanding and documents to strengthen and diversify cooperation in economy, science and technology, space and upper atmosphere communication and boundary management.

These were signed by officials of the two countries at a ceremony held at the presidency after talks between President Zardari and the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. The two leaders witnessed the signing ceremony.

The agreements include those on economic and technical cooperation, boundary management system, Sino-Pak Border Posts and their Management System, satellite navigation, and establishment of Confucius Institute at Karachi University.

The MoUs signed by the two countries included those on Maritime Cooperation, Cooperation for Long Term Plan on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Cooperation in the field of Marine Science and Technology.

“Both sides have a desire to converge China’s strategy to boost domestic demand and develop its western region and Pakistan’s desire to further deepen its economic development,” Li said after the signing.

INDIA WARY

There are several joint energy and infrastructure projects under way in Pakistan and China has taken over operation of the strategically important Gwadar port.

When complete, the port, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, could open up an economic corridor from the Gulf, across Pakistan to western China, and could be used by the Chinese Navy, upsetting India.

Li this week offered India a “handshake across the Himalayas” and said the world’s two most populous nations could become a new engine for the global economy – if they could avoid friction.

China and India disagree about large areas of their 4,000 km (2,500 mile) border and their troops faced off for three weeks last month on a windswept Himalayan plateau where they fought a brief but bloody war in 1962. Pakistan and India have fought three wars, two of them over disputed Kashmir.

India has responded cautiously to Li’s overtures, partly because of China’s friendship with Pakistan. For its part, Beijing is concerned about India’s growing relations with the United States.

“I wish to reiterate solemnly China’s continued firm support to Pakistan in its efforts to uphold independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Li said in a possible reference to India and to the United States, which angers many with drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan.

Pakistan is going through a turbulent chapter in its ties with the United States, which plans to withdraw most of its troops from neighbouring Afghanistan in 2014. Many US

officials have questioned Pakistan’s commitment to fighting Islamist militancy since US forces tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden in a garrison town near Islamabad two years ago.

China’s Xinhua state news agency said Beijing was looking for “pragmatic” military cooperation with Pakistan, “which is in the front line of the fight against international terrorism.”

“The military exchanges are not directed against any third party and contribute to peace and stability in both the region and the whole world,” it said in a commentary.

– Mateen Haider contributed to reporting from Islamabad