Pakistan has invited Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to attend the upcoming conference of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad as a “guest of hounor”, a rare move to accord this opportunity to a top diplomat from a non-OIC country.
Sources confirmed to The Express Tribune here on Wednesday that Wang Yi would address the OIC foreign ministers conference as a special guest. The conference is scheduled for March 22 and 23. At least 48 foreign ministers from the 57-nation OIC have so far confirmed their participation.
This is the second OIC meeting being hosted by Pakistan in three months. In December Pakistan also hosted an extraordinary session of the OIC on Afghanistan.
The sources said that the Chinese foreign minister, apart from attending the OIC conference, would also attend the Pakistan Day Parade to witness the performance of recently-inducted Chinese fighter jets J-10C into the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Pakistan is the first country to get the J-10C fighter jets from China, which highlights the close bilateral ties, particularly in the defence field.
Also read: OIC's 48th session holds special significance for Pakistan: FS Sohail
The Chinese foreign minister will also meet the country’s civil and military leadership to review the bilateral ties as well as discuss regional and international issues. Progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects would also be reviewed during his visit.
CPEC has seen a new push following the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing recently. Prime Minister Imran attended the opening ceremony of Winter Olympics in Beijing in February to show support to China at a time when many Western countries refused to send their teams at the event.
China and Pakistan have longstanding ties but in the recent years the relationship has deepened further against the backdrop of new alignments in the region and beyond. Islamabad is adamant that it does not believe in bloc politics but its decision to skip the US democracy summit and attend the Beijing winter Olympics ceremony suggested that the country is tilting towards China ever so quickly.
Austrian FM
The Foreign Office announced separately on Wednesday that Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg would arrive in Islamabad on Thursday (today) along with a trade delegation for talks with Pakistani officials in the federal capital and Lahore.
The Foreign Office spokesman said that Schleinberg would visit Pakistan from March 16-19 for talks with Foreign Minister Qureshi. The Austrian foreign minister would also visit Lahore. The Foreign Office added that the visit would strengthen the multilateral relations.
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