Pakistan, China agree to strengthen anti-terror cooperation; say attempt to disrupt ties bound to fail

Pakistan and China have agreed to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism activities, reiterating that any attempt to undermine or disrupt their ties was bound to fail, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. They also agreed to upgrade cooperation in various other sectors such as defence, agriculture and information technology. The bilateral ties and cooperation were discussed as President Asif Ali Zardari met Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress Zhao Leji during his visit to China. A joint statement issued today by the FO on the discussions and agreements reached during the visit said: “The Pakistani side reiterated its strongest condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Pakistan involving Chinese personnel. It reaffirmed that ensuring the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan is the foremost responsibility of Pakistani government as China’s all-weather strategic cooperative partner and the host country.