Correcting course: After appeasing the US, Pak vows to ‘deepen’ ties with China also
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Rattled over reports that China, its “all-weather ally”, is outraged with Islamabad suddenly beseeching Washington early this month for help against India, Pakistan has now declared it would ‘deepen’ ties with China.
In particular, according to reports, Beijing was angry with Islamabad for hinting that the ‘substandard’ Chinese and Turkish weapons were of little use during India’s highly successful Operation Sindoor (May 6-10), which decimated some 20 percent of Pakistan Air Force’s capabilities.
To reset the clock, therefore, Pakistan rushed its Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to China to assuage its frayed tempers.
Islamabad said on Wednesday it had agreed to deepen trade and investment with China, days after the end of a deadly conflict with India that Beijing urged should be resolved through dialogue, the media reported.
India and Pakistan agreed to a ‘ceasefire’ on May 10, after four days of fighting, the worst in nearly three decades.
Tensions escalated between the nuclear-armed neighbours after a terror attack on April 22 at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir where Pakistan-sponsored terrorists massacred 26 Hindu-only tourists.
On Tuesday, Ishaq Dar did meet his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. But, upon his arrival at the Beijing airport, the Pakistani leader was snubbed and received lukewarm welcome by junior ministers and officials, indicating the level of mistrust between the “all-weather allies.” Pakistani social media users went to town on this ‘downgrade’ of relations with China.
For the record, however, Wang Yi reiterated that China welcomes and supports efforts by Pakistan and India to handle their differences through dialogue and to achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.
Wang told Dar that China will support Pakistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
Apart from maintaining ‘close communication,’ the two countries agreed to more cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, industrialization, and other sectors, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
