China’s top diplomat to visit Pakistan for strategic dialogue

• Beijing, Islamabad held consultations on arms control, non-proliferation, emerging technologies and artificial intelligence

ISTANBUL / KARACHI

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will a pay three-day visit to Pakistan this week for talks with his counterpart Ishaq Dar, an official statement said Tuesday.

The sixth round of China-Pakistan strategic dialogue with be held in Islamabad after Wang reaches Pakistan on Wednesday, following his two-day trip to India.

It would be Wang’s second visit to Pakistan in three years, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.

“China and Pakistan are iron-clad friends and all-weather friends,” Mao said, adding that the two sides will conduct “in-depth communication” to expand “practical cooperation.”

Wang will also meet Pakistani leadership during his visit, she added.

China and Pakistan are neighbors and the two established diplomatic ties in 1950. In recent years, China has become a top arms supplier to the South Asian nuclear-armed nation, and the trade volume reached over $23 billion in 2024.

The two enjoy "all-weather strategic cooperative partnership" with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the more than $62 billion infrastructure project that aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinjiang province with Balochistan's Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan, attaining crucial significance in bilateral ties.

Ahead of Wang's trip, China and Pakistan held on Monday the 10th round of bilateral consultations on arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament held on Monday in Beijing, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The two sides discussed security implications of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, apart from bilateral cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and outer space.