Islamabad (TDI): China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, will arrive in Islamabad on August 20th to attend the Annual Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, which will convene the next day – August 21st. Both Foreign Ministers will lead their respective delegations in the dialogue.
This Strategic Level Dialogue Framework between the two countries is relatively new; the first-ever session took place March 2019 in Beijing.
FM Wang Yi is also expected to meet Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, during this visit; which is the first highest level visit from the Chinese side since the May’s confrontation between India and Pakistan.
Soon after, PM Sharif is also travelling to Tianjin, China for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), taking place on August 31st and September 1st.
In the strategic dialogue, which will happen at the Foreign Ministry, both sides are expected to discuss progress on CPEC, economic cooperation, regional stability, geopolitical developments, defense and security cooperation, and all other aspects of bilateral relations.
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The Chinese FM also recently met Pakistan Chief of the Armed Forces, Asim Munir, on July 24, while the latter was on an official visit of China.
The reports of Chinese FM’s visit have so far surfaced in Chinese media and Pakistan’s Foreign Office is yet to officially make an announcement.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, was in China to coordinate and arrange the specifics of the strategic dialogue.
Though a matter of routine exchange, a foreign ministers level dialogue is of crucial importance to maintain the strong ties that Pakistan and China have.
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