Pakistan has assured China it will ensure the safety of Chinese personnel working on infrastructure and development projects in the South Asian country while seeking greater security and economic cooperation during President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Beijing.
Zardari is in China on a five-day visit from February 4 to 8 along with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and other senior officials.
Pakistani leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Zardari also held delegation level talks with the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, Zhao Leji.
The Pakistani leadership “reaffirmed that ensuring the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan is the foremost responsibility of Pakistani government as China’s All-weather Strategic Cooperative partner and the host country,” according to a joint communique issued Thursday.
Thousands of Chinese nationals are in Pakistan, working primarily on projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. At least 21 Chinese citizens, however, have been killed in targeted attacks since 2017. This has put pressure on bilateral ties and hurt the progress of the massive infrastructure and development project that has seen more than $25 billion in Chinese investment come to Pakistan.
An October 2024 attack in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi killed two Chinese citizens. The incident came a few months after a March attack on a convoy killed five Chinese nationals in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
While calling for increased cooperation on counterterrorism, the statement said Pakistan will bring to justice those responsible for attacking Chinese personnel.
Pakistan also committed to "further increase input into security, and take targeted and enhanced measures to effectively ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan, and create a safe environment for cooperation between the two countries," according to the communique.
In the latest high-level meetings, Chinese officials offered counterterrorism cooperation to Pakistan.
“The Chinese side…expressed its willingness to provide necessary support for Pakistan’s counter terrorism capacity building,” the lengthy 24-point communique read.
Official statements issued by the Pakistani side earlier show security remained a central part of discussions.
In his opening statement Wednesday at the start of talks with Xi, Zardari said the friendship between the two countries had “gone through ups and downs” but would not be broken down by militant attacks that have killed Chinese citizens.
“No matter how many terrors, how many issues crop up in the world, I will stand, Pakistani people will stand, with the people of China,” the Pakistan head of state said.
Both sides discussed enhancing intelligence sharing, border security, and the transfer of technology to strengthen the Pakistani police’s capability to secure Chinese interests.
“Mohsin Naqvi said that Pakistan will purchase modern technology and equipment for the police from China,” a statement from the Pakistani interior minister’s office said after a meeting with Qi Yanjun, one of China’s top security officials.
Naqvi also informed Xi about efforts to beef up security of the Chinese and boost counter terrorism operations in Pakistan.
Pakistan is grappling with a deadly wave of militant attacks primarily targeting Pakistani security personnel since late 2021.
On Saturday, militants allegedly affiliated with the Baloch Liberation Army killed 18 soldiers in the southwestern Balochistan province, home to the China-funded Gwadar deep sea port and the country’s largest airport.
In January, the country saw 74 militant attacks resulting in 91 deaths, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Thirty-five of those killed were security personnel while 36 militants died in the incidents.
In 2024, close to 1,200 people including almost 1000 civilians and security personnel were killed in militant attacks – a 40% increase in militant attacks compared to 2023.
Much of the violence is concentrated in the two provinces bordering Afghanistan. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has a strong foothold while the banned Baloch Liberation Army is behind much of the violence in Balochistan.
Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of taking insufficient measures to reign in anti-Pakistan militants present on Afghan soil, a charge the de facto rulers in Kabul reject.
In Thursday’s joint communique, Pakistan and China again pressed Afghan authorities to take stronger counter-terrorism action.
“They called on the Interim Afghan Government to take visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist groups based in Afghanistan which continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security, and to prevent the use of Afghan territory against other countries,” the statement said.
Despite Pakistan’s poor security situation that Beijing has publicly complained about, the joint statement said China would encourage its businesses to invest in Pakistan. Both sides signed more than a dozen Memoranda of Understanding to enhance cooperation in agriculture, technology, and trade, etc.
After his first stop in Beijing, Zardari heads to the northeastern city of Harbin to attend the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games, taking place from Feb. 7-14.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
