Chinese advice to Pak political forces comes for second time

ISLAMABAD: Expressing concern over the deepening strife among the political leaders, China on Saturday impressed upon the political forces in Pakistan to unite and overcome the issues of political stability.

The advice has come from visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who concluded his maiden two-day visit to Pakistan on Saturday.

He had talks with host Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and led his country’s delegation in the fifth Pakistan-China-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue at the Foreign Office here with “productive discussions on political engagement, counter-terrorism trade and connectivity.”

Highly placed diplomatic sources reminded that China offered similar advice to Pakistan way back in early 1971 when the Awami League of East Pakistan started agitation in the eastern part of the country and its leader Sheikh Mujib ur Rehman tried to force the government to come to his terms for resolution of political disputes.

Former late Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, who was an acclaimed visionary statesman, asked the rulers of Pakistan through quiet diplomacy to settle political issues citing the evil designs of Pakistan’s foes to dismember it.

The leadership of the Awami League despite the initiatives of the government subverted the desire of the government for rapprochement. The sources pointed out that now the advice has come openly from China, asking quarrelling political forces to settle their dispute through peaceful means.

Interestingly, the government has not yet reacted to the advice but some leaders from the PTI have welcomed it. The sources reminded The News that when the Chinese foreign minister was engaged in dialogue here in the federal capital on Saturday, the PTI leaders were busy in agitation not on the roads near the Red Zone of Islamabad but also in the garrison city Rawalpindi. Similar scenes were created in Lahore and Peshawar.

It would be pertinent to recall that Chinese President Xi Jinping had to come to Pakistan on his first visit in 2014 and he had to ink with then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif CPEC’s historic billion dollars agreement, PTI leader Imran Khan started a sit-in in Red-Zone of Islamabad. He declined the request of the Chinese ambassador in Pakistan to suspend his sit-in for two days so that the visit could take place hassle-free.

The visit had to be called off and the agreement

signing was delayed for months.