Pak new govt follows 'consistent policy' towards China: Gen Bajwa

Visiting Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured China's top military official Gen Zhang Youxia that the new government, like the Pakistani military, follows a consistent policy of pragmatic cooperation with China.

Gen Zhang is the highest military official as he is the vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) which is the high command of the two-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The CMC is headed by President Xi Jinping.

"The Pakistani military and its new government are consistent in their policy towards China," Bajwa told Zhang during their meeting here on Tuesday a Chinese defence ministry release quoted him as saying.

His assurance about the new government besides the Pakistan military following a "consistent policy" towards China comes in the backdrop of reports of differences over the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Projects of CPEC, regarded as the flagship initiative in Xi's multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), figured high during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's talks with new Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad last month.

Pakistan is willing to continue to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China in the areas of counter-terrorism, equipment technology, and personnel training to ensure the safe and smooth development of CPEC, Bajwa said.

India has protested to China over CPEC as it traverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Zhang said China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners and pointed to Xi's perception that China-Pakistan relations should be a model of good-neighbourly friendship, a pillar of regional peace and stability, and a benchmark for international cooperation in BRI.

China has always prioritised China-Pakistan relations in foreign affairs and appreciated the full support of the new Pakistan government in promoting the development of bilateral ties, he said.

Together with the new Pakistan government, China is willing to promote their friendly relations further, make every effort to promote the construction of the CPEC and benefit the two nations, Zhang said.

He also said ties between Chinese and Pakistani militaries serve as an important backbone of the relations between the two countries.

The two militaries should further enhance pragmatic cooperation in all areas, continuously improve the ability to cope with various security risks and challenges, and work together to safeguard the common interests of the two countries, he said.

On Monday, Bajwa had held talks with his Chinese counterpart Gen Han Weiguo.