ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China will discuss boosting up defence cooperation in order to maintain the existing momentum, Daily Times has learnt on Sunday. A 16-member Chinese defence delegation, headed by Chinese State Councillor and Minister for National Defence General Liang Guangile arrived in Pakistan on a two-day visit.According to a press release, the Chinese defence minister will hold meetings with his Pakistani counterpart Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar and senior local military leadership, which would further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
According to diplomatic officials, the terms on which the Chinese provided weapons and equipment to Pakistan was not aimed at perpetuating Pakistan's dependence on Beijing, but on encouraging self-reliance. This included supply of spare parts, setting up local overhauling facilities, license production and other joint ventures. A Foreign Office official said that Pakistan and China will work closely to address regional security and strategic issues, including “intra-regional disputes and posturing of involved states', – an apparent reference to a purported report which claimed that India was preparing for a two-front war with both countries.
During talks between a Pakistani team led by Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majid and the People's Liberation Army Deputy Chief General Ma Xiaotian, earlier this year, the two sides focused on ways of addressing “the tenuous spectre of strategic stability in the region. The last round of the Pakistan-China defence and security talks also decided to address the “intra-regional disputes and posturing of involved states.'
These security talks were aimed at “sharing perspectives on the fast-evolving regional security situation for developing common insight into emerging scenarios and coordinating common responses'.