CPEC: China wants Pakistan to speed up the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (File)
China has asked Pakistan to speed up the
3,000-kilometre-long trade corridor project that runs across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, asserting that China opposes interference from any country in Pakistan's internal affairs.
"The China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership has made outstanding progress since I visited Pakistan in 2015," Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a session of the non-profit Boao Forum for Asia in southern China's Hainan Province.
Xi, who has been made China's president for life after the ruling Communist Party amended the constitution in March, met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at the event.
At the meeting, Xi asked Mr Abbasi to speed up the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC and ensure sound planning of all related projects.
The CPEC is a $50 billion corridor that connects Kashgar in western China with Gwadar port in Pakistan. India has objected to the project as it runs across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The ties between China and Pakistan should become a model for good-neighbourly relationship and international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi told Mr Abbasi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses delegates at the Boao Forum for Asia (AFP)
China firmly supports Pakistan in maintaining its national unity and the fight against terrorism, Xi said.
India has long accused Pakistan of
giving shelter to terrorists on its soil. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed is roaming freely in Pakistan. US President Donald Trump has also taken steps to punish Pakistan for what it claims were insincere attempts at fighting terrorists who attack American troops.
Mr Abbasi said China and Pakistan are "iron friends" who always support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns.
The CPEC project also faces threats from terrorists. China has long worried about disaffected members of its Uighur Muslim minority in its far western region of Xinjiang linking up with terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In December 2017, China had warned its nationals in Pakistan of plans for a series of imminent "terrorist attacks" on Chinese targets there. Thousands of Chinese workers have gone to Pakistan following Beijing's pledge to spend huge funds there on the projects.
China is hosting state leaders at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual conference formed by China in 2001 on the lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. On its website, the non-profit claims that it has become a high-end platform for dialogue among state heads, business people and scholars. This year's meeting started on April 8 and will end tomorrow.
With inputs from PTI and IANS