Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will arrive in China on Tuesday on his maiden two-day visit to felicitate President Xi Jinping on his re-election, amid turmoil at home and Beijing's increasing concerns over recurring attacks against the Chinese workers in the country.
Sharif will be the first head of the government to felicitate 69-year-old Xi in person for securing an unprecedented third five-year term at the recently held Communist Party Congress, becoming the first leader after party founder Mao Zedong to continue in power after 10-year tenure.
All of Xi’s predecessors retired after 10 years in office and considering his firming grip on the party and military, Xi like Mao is widely expected to continue in power for life.
"I would like to express my heartiest felicitations to my brother General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China for starting a New Era of China's progress; and I say with complete confidence that it heralds the dawn of a brighter era of China-Pakistan friendship," Sharif said in an article published in the state-run Global Times on Monday.
Sharif along with some of the world leaders is visiting Beijing to greet Xi.
Vietnam's Communist Party leader Phu Trong is the first guest of honour invited by Xi.
On Monday, Trong held talks with Xi who has announced plans to make China a modern socialist state.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will arrive in China on November 4 to meet Xi while Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of Tanzania, will come ahead of him on November 2 to felicitate the Chinese President.
Besides Xi, Sharif will meet Premier Li Keqiang and Li Zhanshu, the Chairman of China's Parliament - the National People's Congress, to discuss the all-weather ties.
Both Li Keqiang and Li Zhanshu are set to retire after March next year as a new set of leaders and officials will take over the party and government headed by Xi in his third five-year term.
Ahead of Sharif's visit, Pakistan's Foreign Office said that the trip is also "expected to advance the wide-ranging bilateral cooperation agenda with the conclusion of a number of MoUs/Agreements in diverse areas, and consolidate the momentum of CPEC cooperation in the wake of the 11th meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on October 27, 2022." On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian lauded Sharif’s praise for the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of Xi’s pet initiative of the multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
India has objected to the CPEC as it is being laid through the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
"We highly appreciate Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's remarks. We believe they show the importance he attaches to the visit to China," Zhao said.
He also referred to the Kashmir issue in his article.
"We seek friendly relations with our neighbouring countries on the basis of mutual respect and spirit of cooperation, and desire peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes including Kashmir issue through dialogue and diplomacy based on UN charter and resolutions," he said.
This will be Sharif's second meeting with Xi after he assumed office in April 2022. He met Xi last month on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan.
Sharif’s visit is taking place amid political impasse in his country as former prime minister Imran Khan queered the pitch to press for elections with Long March and the deepening economic crisis.
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His trip to China comes at a time when cash-strapped Pakistan is making all efforts to arrange billions of dollars for payment of debts and bridge trade deficit. Pakistan owes Paris Club countries a combined sum of around USD 10.7 billion.
Sharif is expected to make a case for Beijing to provide more help for his government to shore up the balance of payments position to avert a crisis similar to Sri Lanka.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan's total non-Paris Club bilateral debt currently stands at about USD 27 billion, of which Chinese debt is about USD 23 billion.
Besides routine platitudes by Chinese officials like "all-weather friends" and "iron brothers", recent reports spoke of Beijing's increasing dissatisfaction over Pakistan's failure to deliver on a number of fronts including its failure to stop the recurring attacks on Chinese personnel by the militant groups.
In his Samarkand meeting with Sharif, Xi had called for providing solid protection for hundreds of Chinese working on the CPEC projects.
With recurring attacks on its workers, China is reportedly pressing Pakistan to permit the Chinese security agencies to provide security for their personnel which, according to press reports, Islamabad is resisting as it meant boots on the ground for Chinese armed forces.
The issue is expected to figure again during Sharif's meeting here with Xi.
China is also unhappy over the delays in the projects of the CPEC, which is the flagship scheme of Xi's multibillion-dollar pet project BRI, resulting in cost overruns and discontentment among Chinese investors.
Last month, Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa held talks with Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe in a surprise visit to China ahead of his retirement amid reports that China is also concerned over Pakistan warming up to the US, the reported use of Pakistan air bases by American drones to conduct attack in Afghanistan.
Chinese observers say that China is also increasingly worried about the continued political turmoil in Pakistan resulting in the weakening of its public institutions, especially the erosion of the influence of its military, over which Beijing banked on to sustain the close ties.
About concerns over recurring attacks on Chinese in Pakistan, Sharif in the article said their protection is his top priority.
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"Safety and security of Chinese personnel and projects in Pakistan remains our top priority. The loss of precious Chinese lives in Pakistan is our loss. We would not let anyone damage our close friendship and strong economic partnership. My government would spare no effort to bring to justice the perpetrators of these reprehensible acts," he said.
He also praised the CPEC, saying it is a "game changer." "As a game-changer for Pakistan and subsequently for the broader region, the CPEC is the central pillar of my government's development agenda. Under its rubric, the successful completion of energy and transport infrastructure projects have set the stage for Pakistan's economic revitalization and for laying a solid foundation for cooperation in diverse sectors,” he said.