China, Pakistan reinforce warming ties
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-21 14:08

China and Pakistan reinforced their steadily warming ties Monday, signing agreements on a range of issues — including defense and energy cooperation — just days after militants killed three Chinese engineers in Pakistan.

Chinese President Hu Jintao called visiting Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf "an old friend of the Chinese people" after the two exchanged handshakes and broad grins in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Wednesday evening.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, toasts with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf after a signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People on Monday Feb. 20, 2006 in Beijing. China. Musharraf told China's leaders here that terrorists in his country were trying to hurt bilateral relations, following last week's murders of three Chinese engineers in his country. [AP]

Hours earlier, Musharraf apologized to China — one of his country's main defense suppliers and trading partners — over the drive-by shootings of three Chinese engineers by tribal militants in Pakistan.

He said the incident brought "shame" on his country.

"The man in the street (in Pakistan) loves the Chinese people," Musharraf told China's parliament chief, Wu Bangguo, during the part of their Beijing meeting open to reporters.

Fifty suspects have been arrested.

Hu said China hoped Pakistan will ensure the safety of Chinese people in Pakistan — a presence likely to increase after the leaders and high-level delegations from both sides held closed-door meetings, then signed 13 agreements on a wide range of issues.

One of the first was on cooperation between their defense ministries.

In the part of their meeting open to media, Hu said his country would cooperate with Pakistan to combat the "three forces," a term by which China refers to terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.

As with all 13 agreements signed Monday, few details about the defense pact were immediately available.

The two countries already jointly build JF-17 Thunder fighter planes.

Another of the pacts covered energy cooperation.

China has helped Pakistan set up a nuclear power plant, and the two recently started work on a second in the country's east.

Another agreement was for China to provide Pakistan with $300 million in loans to buy Chinese goods.

In another, China agreed to help upgrade a highway that runs near its border in northern Pakistan and was badly damaged by last year's earthquake.

The two sides also signed a pledge to work together on quake research following the massive disaster that killed about 80,000 people and left more than 3 million homeless.

Musharraf's five-day visit to China marked the 55th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Just before arriving Sunday, Musharraf said China's growing influence makes it a vital force for Asian stability and development.

Other agreements signed Monday covered expanding economic ties, cooperation in health, joint work on family planning, a plan to boost two-way trade, meteorological research, fisheries, pesticide management, and an agreement for China to help Pakistan provide vocational training.