Imran Khan's visit to strengthen ties with China

China and Pakistan have a long history of friendship and leaders of both nations have been paying official visits to each other’s country on a regular basis. Imran Khan, after becoming the prime minister of Pakistan, will pay his first official visit from November 2-5, 2018. He will keep the tradition of visiting China as done by his predecessors. In fact, he visited China in 2011, but that was in a different capacity. This trip, however, is crucial to negate the confusions or misconceptions the western media has tried to create.

He will have a chance to interact with the highest leadership directly and exchange his views with them.

Khan is impressed by the rapid development of China; he has always admired the Chinese achievements like poverty eradication and controlling the menace of corruption. During his visit to China, he will try to explore the possibilities of close cooperation between China and Pakistan, especially in the social sector. His objective will be to learn the Chinese experience of poverty elimination and fighting against corruption. Pakistan is a victim of corruption since decades and corruption is a major cause of hindrance in the country’s development. Khan is also of the opinion that corruption is a curse and must be eliminated from the society for good.

Khan will be also attending the China International Import Expo. He will be guest of honor. The contribution of Shanghai in China’s development is huge, and it will also have the honor of hosting the first-ever import expo in China. Khan will avail this opportunity to learn the Shanghai model of development for the further development of Pakistan’s economy.

The preparations of his visit are in advance stage of finalization and both foreign ministries are working hard and in close coordination to make this visit a symbol of ideal friendship and the win-win partnership. An advance team of six members has been announced to travel to China on October 30. Khan will travel with a small delegation and a 75-member delegation of businessmen may travel to attend Shanghai Import expo too. The expo will be an opportunity for the Pakistani business community to explore the exports options to China. It will bring the business community of both sides close to each other, especially in the changing environment of a trade war, it is critical to promote understanding between close friends.

This visit will be even more important as the course of action for next five years will be defined and decisions made in this visit will be implemented during the rest of tenure of Khan as prime minister of Pakistan till 2023.

The author is Sinologist (ex-Diplomate), Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.