ISLAMABAD: Terming Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China “extremely successful and productive, more than their expectations”, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday said that he would undertake a follow-up visit to Beijing next month where he would also participate in a conference of the “immediate neighbours of Afghanistan”.

Speaking at a news conference with other members of the federal cabinet soon after landing at Nur Khan Air Base after concluding a four-day visit to China, Mr Qureshi said PM Khan had had very comprehensive meetings with the Chinese leadership on a wide range of issues, including Afghanistan and future prospects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcas­ting Fawad Chaudhry, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Adviser to the PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood and National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf also attended the press conference.

The foreign minister said that China acknowledged Pakistan’s role in Afgha­nistan’s humanitarian assistance and praised Islamabad for holding a successful meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Afghanistan.

Says trilateral forum involving Pakistan, China, Afghanistan being revived

The foreign minister said the two sides held detailed talks on how Afghanistan could be taken along and how consultations and coordination could be carried out.

Mr Qureshi said that during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the two leaders agreed to meet again in Beijing in March. On that occasion, he said, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan would also be invited to attend the meeting of the “immediate neighbours of Afghanistan”. He said the interim Afghan foreign minister would be invited to Beijing for talks. Besides, he said, it had been decided to revive the “Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral forum”.

Mr Qureshi said Mr Khan had delegation-level talks and meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and both sides discussed ways and means to move on the economic front, enhance market access, bridge the trade imbalance and increase Chinese investment in Pakistan.

The minister claimed that this time they had gone to China after doing complete homework and with a prepared pitch-book, identifying the areas where the Chinese companies could make investments.

He identified industry, agriculture and information technology as key sectors where China could make investments and launch “win-win projects”.

He said the prime minister had held meetings with representatives of about 20 Chinese companies, adding that they had informed the Chinese state-owned and private companies through a booklet about the prospects of investments in Pakistan.

Before returning to Islamabad, Mr Qureshi held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang and discussed the evolving situation in the region and beyond, particularly the grave humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

The two sides appreciated the role played by the two meetings of the foreign ministers of six neighbouring countries in evolving regional consensus on Afghanistan and looked forward to the third meeting to be held in China.

The FM said during the opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics, the Pakistani team was warmly received by the people in the stadium which reflected that this friendship was people-centric.

China, he said, had a clear direction in which Pakistan had a prominent position.

Mr Qureshi left the venue with other cabinet members, leaving behind Information Minister Chaudhry who talked about the prime minister’s visit to China.

Mr Chaudhry said the Chinese leadership had appreciated the Pakistan government’s economic reforms and financial discipline.

Responding to the criticism in some media circles over the Chinese deputy foreign minister receiving the prime minister in China, the minister said those people who could not even spell ‘bilateral’ or ‘multilateral’ had become experts on foreign affairs.

He claimed that more than 20 world leaders were present in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and “all of them were received with the same protocol”.

The minister announced that the government had decided to bring a framework for organising winter sports in the country, stating that China had agreed to help Pakistan in this regard.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2022

Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the prime minister would make a follow-up visit to China when it is the foreign minister who would take that trip. The error is regretted.