Strong bilateral ties with China is cornerstone of Pak foreign policy: Imran Khan

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that a strong bilateral relationship with China is the cornerstone of the Pakistan’s foreign policy.

Khan chaired a high-level meeting with his Cabinet colleagues and discussed his maiden tour to China next month during which matters related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is to be discussed, the Express Tribune reported.

The meeting was also attended by Pakistan’s Finance Minister Asad Umer, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Planning and Development Minister Khusro Bakhtiar and Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed.

China is an all-weather ally of Pakistan. The two countries launched the controversy-hit USD 50 billion CPEC in 2015 under which a network of roads, railways and energy projects, linking China’s resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, has been planned. 

Khan, chairing a cabinet meeting of the Balochistan province during his first visit to the restive province as the prime minister on Saturday, said that Pakistan was reviewing the projects under the CPEC to safeguard the interest of the Baloch people, who say the projects were not beneficial for them.

Khan in the past had criticised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the lack of transparency and corruption in the CPEC projects.

Last month during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Khan had said that the Pakistan government was committed to the implementation of the CPEC projects.

Wang had also conveyed the desire of the Chinese leadership to work with the new government of Khan for further enhancing the strategic partnership between Pakistan and China.