Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (right) with Pakistan’s incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif prior to their meeting in Islamabad, yesterday.
ISLAMABAD: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang yesterday invited Pakistan’s incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Beijing, reiterating a promise to strengthen economic ties.
Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) secured a convincing victory in the May 11 general election, said it would be a “personal honour” to accept the invitation.
Li, on the final day of a short visit to a long-time ally, told the Senate that Beijing was ready to speed up work to improve the Karakorum Highway, which links both countries.
“We want to not only expand our trade relations but also achieve dynamic balance in our trade,” he told senators after talks with Sharif and senior PML-N leaders.
On Wednesday Li linked Pakistan’s development with that in China’s restive western region and said he wanted to create an “economic corridor” between both countries.
China took charge of the southwestern Pakistani port of Gwadar earlier this year, which would give it access to the Arabian Sea and provide a shorter transit route for Gulf oil in one direction and Chinese goods in the other.
But any route to Gwadar lies through the province of Baluchistan, plagued by separatist and religious violence.
Aside from problems with violent Islamist militants, the new PML-N government faces challenges as it seeks to revitalise the ailing economy.
Weak growth, inflation, dwindling foreign exchange reserves and a crippling energy crisis are pressing concerns for Sharif, expected to assume office early next month.
Li said China was keen to “launch major projects of cooperation and enhance financial and investment cooperation”.
Li praised the Sino-Pakistan relationship to the hilt and Pakistan for its “tenacity and fortitude” and “creating one miracle after another. The China-Pakistan friendship has stood the test of hardship and is more precious than gold,” he said.
Bilateral trade hit $12bn for the first time last year, according to Islamabad’s foreign ministry, and the two sides plan to raise it to $15bn in two to three years.
Li this week offered India a “handshake across the Himalayas” and said the two old rivals, the world’s two most populous nations, could become a new engine for the global economy — if they could avoid friction. Chinese trade with India is expected to reach $100bn a year within two years. China’s trade with Pakistan rose above a measly $12bn for the first time last year. Agencies
