China, Pakistan to boost strategic coordination and unity

China and Pakistan agreed on Wednesday that they would continue to strengthen strategic coordination and unity to bring stability to the region and the world at large.

The pledge was made during the meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and visiting State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Islamabad.

The two sides maintained that Ukraine should serve as a bridge of communication between the West and East, rather than an outpost of major power competition, and the spill-over effects of the current crisis should be prevented, according to a press release.

They agreed the United States, Europe and the North Atlantic Organization Treaty should carry out dialogue with Russia and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security mechanism on the principle of the indivisible security, so that Europe would be free from war and other countries and regions would not be affected.

Wang is currently in Pakistan for the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and he extended congratulations to Khan on Pakistan's successful holding of the meeting, which according to Wang had sent out a strong voice of the Islamic world's pursuing peace and justice and would surely inspire 1.6 billion Islamic people.

Noting China-Pakistan friendship is unbreakable and time-honored which has stood the test of the times, Wang vowed China would stand firmly with Pakistan.

He said that China would provide assistance within its capabilities for Pakistan to help it recover economy and to push bilateral pragmatic cooperation in various fields to yield more results.

Noting that the "iron-clad" friendship between Pakistan and China is a decision made by the two governments, Khan underlined it is much more the choice of the two peoples while speaking highly the increasingly closer communication between the two sides.

Pakistan is full of confidence to the future of the bilateral relations, he said, adding that bilateral cooperation has provided positive energy for both the two sides and the world at large.

During the talks, they also fully affirmed the positive roles of the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral foreign ministers' dialogue and the meeting of foreign ministers of the neighboring countries of Afghanistan.

Khan said that trilateral cooperation among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan is conducive to achieving stability in Afghanistan and promoting Kabul to play a pivotal role in regional connectivity.

Pakistan would like to make joint efforts with China to build high quality Belt and Road Initiative and promote the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, he added.