Pakistan rolled out red carpet on Monday for Chinese Premier Li Qiang who landed at Nur Khan Airbase for a four-day bilateral visit and a heads-of-government gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) this week.
He was received by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. He was presented a guard of honour by a contingent of Pakistan’s armed forces.
Chinese Prime Minister Li arrived in Pakistan after 11 years.
Li and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will discuss economic and trade ties and cooperation under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment in the country under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Li is also likely to inaugurate the CPEC-funded Gwadar International Airport in Balochistan. Premier Li will also hold meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, parliamentary leaders and military leadership.
The Chinese leader will attend the 23rd SCO meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Islamabad.
The SCO participants will be represented by the prime ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the first vice president of Iran and external affairs minister of India, the Pakistani foreign office said.
The prime minister of Mongolia will attend the summit as an observer, and deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and foreign minister of Turkmenistan as a special guest.
