Pakistan, China pledge to promote ties

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf met here Tuesday with Chinese senior military officer Ma Xiaotian, and the two agreed to further advance bilateral pragmatic cooperation.?

In his meeting with Ma, deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army, Ashraf said the "all-weather" friendship between Pakistan and China has withstood the vicissitudes of international situations.

The Pakistani government, people and army share broad consensus on developing friendly ties with China, he told Ma, who was in Islamabad for bilateral consultations on defense and security.

Pakistan firmly supports China's stand on defending national unity and territorial integrity, and greatly values the traditional friendship between the two countries, Ashraf added.

He pledged to strengthen friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation with China in all areas to promote the steady development of bilateral ties.

For his part, Ma said that China-Pakistan relations set an example of state-to-state relations between countries of different ideologies, religions, cultures and social systems and that their close cooperation has solid political foundation and public support.

The Chinese side is ready to continue to work with Pakistan to adapt to the new situations and changes to consolidate their friendship, enrich the content of their exchanges, expand the areas of cooperation, and advance the China-Pakistan strategic partnership, Ma said.