Pakistan says firmly supports China on South China Sea issue

TASHKENT -- Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain said here Thursday that his country firmly supports China's principles and positions on issues concerning the South China Sea as well as Taiwan and Tibet.

He made the remarks while meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent.

Xi said that Pakistan will sign a memorandum of obligations at the summit for it to join the organization, and this is a key step in the procedures for Pakistan to be granted full membership of the SCO.

China looks forward to carrying out deep cooperation with Pakistan under the framework of the SCO, Xi said.

The two leaders reviewed the friendship and strong momentum of the bilateral relations, noting that the two countries have maintained sound communication and coordination on global and regional issues, and have always supported each other on issues related to their respective core interests and major concerns.

"This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of China-Pakistan diplomatic relations. Our two sides should take this opportunity to keep the momentum of high-level contacts and translate our friendship into greater driving forces for practical cooperation," Xi said.

The president proposed that the two countries focus on the building of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), speed up the implementation of projects on transportation infrastructure and energy, and steadily carry out the CPEC-supporting projects concerning people's livelihood.

Xi also called on the two sides to deepen their cooperation in economy and trade, security, people-to-people exchanges, thus constantly enriching the meaning of their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

On his part, Hussain said Pakistan expects to continue its close cooperation with China in economic development, particularly in areas including the CPEC building, infrastructure, counter-terrorism and security. The country also hopes to strengthen cooperation with China on multilateral affairs within the UN and SCO, he said.

The 16th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State is scheduled to be held in the Uzbek capital Tashkent on Thursday and Friday.

Founded in 2001, the SCO now has China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its full members, with Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers.