Pakistan’s new foreign minister to visit China for latest high-level talks

Name: 3 Chinese staff of Confucius Institute killed in Karachi bomb attack
Uploaded: 2022-05-20T23:00:24.000Z
Duration: 1 min 41 s
Description: 3 Chinese staff of Confucius Institute killed in Karachi bomb attack

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will meet counterpart Wang Yi to discuss bilateral and other issues, foreign ministry says

Analyst expects the trip to be about ‘getting to know’ the new Pakistani government’s China and foreign policies

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Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will arrive in China on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Liu Zhen

Published: 7:00am, 21 May 2022Updated: 7:57am, 21 May 2022

Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will arrive in China on Saturday for a two-day visit, the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between the two sides.

He will attend the first in-person talks between the two nations since the new Pakistani government was sworn in three weeks ago, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday.

It follows a phone conversation between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Bhutto Zardari also spoke in a video call last week.

The visit comes after last month’s suicide bombing in Karachi that killed three Chinese teachers from a Confucius Institute and their local driver. During Monday’s call, Li urged Pakistan to “ensure” further terrorist attacks against Chinese nationals do not happen.

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3 Chinese staff of Confucius Institute killed in Karachi bomb attack

Bhutto Zardari will meet his Chinese counterpart to discuss bilateral and other issues, the foreign ministry spokesman said, but there was no mention of other meetings.

“As all-weather strategic partners, it is necessary for China and Pakistan to strengthen communication and coordination on major strategic issues in a timely manner, and to deal with new changes in the international and regional situation and various risks and challenges side by side,” the ministry spokesman said.

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