Sino-Pak accord to boost military cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China on Monday signed an agreement for
military cooperation as a landmark to take existing bilateral military
ties to new heights.

The signing ceremony took place in Beijing between Chairman Joint
Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid and his Chinese
counterpart at the conclusion of sixth round of Pakistan-China Defence
and Security Talks — a forum to spearhead strategic and defence
relations between the two friendly and brotherly countries.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Gen Tariq Majid along
with a high-powered delegation had earlier arrived in Beijing to hold
talks, said an ISPR news release issued here. On arrival at Ba’yi
Building (Peopleís Liberation Army Headquarters), CJCSC was received
by General Chen Bingde, Chief of General Staff, Peopleís Liberation
Army, followed by a guard of honour.

The sixth round of Defence and Security Talks was held in a very
cordial and friendly atmosphere between high-level defence officials
from both sides headed by Gen Bingde and Gen Tariq.

The dialogue covered a wide range of regional and international issues
and a review of the ongoing military-to-military cooperation,
including measures to bolster the existing ties. There was complete
unanimity of views on all issues. The two sides agreed to take forward
their strategic partnership to new heights and agreed to augment the
existing military-to-military cooperation.

While reviewing the growth of China-Pakistan relations over the past
57 years, the two leaders expressed satisfaction that the friendship
between China and Pakistan has withstood the test of time,
notwithstanding changes in the international, regional and domestic
environment and has matured into a comprehensive partnership.

Both sides were opposed to all forms of terrorism, extremism and
militancy and resolved to cooperate with each other to fight these
forces. China conveyed its complete support to Pakistan’s efforts to
fight terrorism and appreciated the sacrifices made by the government
and people of Pakistan in this regard.

The CJCSC is scheduled to also meet high-level civil and military
leadership of the Peopleís Republic of China. He will also visit
HuDong Shipyard in Shanghai to see the progress on construction of
Fñ22 P Frigates for Pakistan Navy and JF-17 Thunder Aircraft project
in Cheng Fei Company in Chengdu.

The Defence and Security Talks were instituted during 2002 and have
since been held regularly, alternatively, in Pakistan and China and
have matured into an extremely useful bilateral forum. Under the
framework of this forum, relations between the two armed forces have
now reached a strategic dimension. The dialogue now covers military-to-
military cooperation, collaboration between the defence industries and
global/strategic issues. Later in the evening, a banquet was hosted by
Gen Bingde, CGS PLA, in honour of the CJCSC, which was attended by
senior Chinese officials.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18983