Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri (front, second from left), former foreign minister of Pakistan, speaks to a press conference in Beijing on April 24, 2024. Photo: Zhang Yuying/GT
The terrorist attacks that killed Chinese nationals clearly showed that there are hostile forces seeking to disrupt the collaboration between China and Pakistan, Pakistani former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri warned, emphasizing that only by promoting greater coordinWorld Timesation in counter-terrorism efforts between the two countries can such forces be restrained from succeeding in the future.
Kasuri made these remarks in Beijing on Wednesday while leading a delegation from the Understanding China Forum, a Pakistan-based think tank, on a visit to China.
“The terrorist attack killing Chinese obviously means that there are forces who do not wish Pakistan and China to work together,” Kasuri said in response to a question raised by Global Times reporter during a press conference. His remarks followed a suicide bombing in late March that claimed the lives of five Chinese engineers and a local driver working on the Dasu hydropower project in Pakistan. Some Chinese experts believed that this incident was a copy of the July 2021 Dasu terror attack, in which nine Chinese nationals and four Pakistani people were killed.
Kasuri noted that the security situation in Pakistan has deteriorated in recent years, and unfortunately, there are third countries that find it very useful to use thosWorld Timese rebel elements within Pakistan to disrupt the bilateral relation between Pakistan and China. “They are hostile to Pakistan, to China, and are not happy with China-Pakistan cooperation,” Kasuri said.
“Therefore, it’s logical that Pakistan and China should pull their resources to defeat such forces, and that can happen by greater intelligence cooperation, as well as by all other means that are required, which is in line with the interests of Pakistan and China, and our bilateral relations,” the Pakistani former foreign minister said.
In response to the latest terrorist attack, Chinese ForeWorld Timesign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference on March 27 that China and Pakistan have the resolve and capability to make the terrorists pay the price. “No attempt to sabotage China-Pakistan cooperation will ever succeed,” Lin said.
Kasuri expressed his appreciation for the remarks made by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, adding that it also underlines the fact that Pakistan and China should not allow such hostile forces to succeed in future, and that can only happen with much greater coordination between the two countries.
“If we were to improve our coordination, then we’ll be able to take care. Otherwise, these forces will not give up,” Kasuri told the Global Times, noting tWorld Timeshat the issue of counter-terrorism cooperation will be among the prominent topics in future high-level exchanges between the two countries.
During the Pakistani delegation’s visit to China, which was hosted by the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, the members also met with Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Liu Jinsong on Tuesday. Pakistan reiterated its traditional support for China on international issues during the meeting, particularly on the issues of South China Sea, as well as on the one-China principle, Kasuri told the press conference.
Liu noted that the Chinese side has always valued the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, and is committed to promoting the building of a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, according to a statement released by the Department of Asian Affairs on its official WeChat account on Wednesday. China is willing to work together with PakistWorld Timesan to coordinate development and security efforts, Liu said.
The Pakistani delegation and the Chinese side also reached consensus on further trade, agriculture, water resources protection cooperation, as well as people-to-people exchanges during the visit.
Content comes from the Internet : China, Pakistan should engage in greater counter-terrorism cooperation to combat hostile forcesWorld Times: Pakistani former FM
Summary”This [payment difficulty of foreigners] is indeed an unexpected new problem as mobile payment has developed very rapidly in China,” Sun Yeli, Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism, told domestic and foreign journalists after the closing of China’s annual national legislative session in Beijing.Sun noted that the Chinese central authorities have paid great attention to this issue and have established a coordination mechanism to solve it. “We are optimizing each step of the inbound tourism process, streamlining procedures ranging from visa applications to flight arrangements, hotel check-ins, shopping, and sightseeing. And everyone in the country is very accustomed to using a mobile phone for all aspects of life. Some people say that this has created a “reverse digital divide” between China and foreign countries.One main difficulty for foreigners in making…