Pakistan President Alvi's China visit a show of solidarity

Pakistan President Arif Alvi will become the first head of state to visit Beijing since the outbreak of Covid-19 that originated down south in Wuhan, in a bid to show solidarity with its all-weather ally and its leadership amid China’s biggest crisis in recent years, ET has learnt. A number of ministers are expected to accompany the President in a trip that is also aimed at boosting China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The visit begins on Monday, a day after the SAARC Summit that was held via video-conferencing to adopt a joint strategy to fight the pandemic.

At the meet, Pakistan had suggested that China be included in the initiative to counter the spread of disease in South Asia.


“The visit is aimed at conveying strong support and solidarity of Pakistan towards the government and the people of China while Beijing was resolutely engaged in efforts to contain and deal with the spread of Covid-19,” according to a report on the staterun Radio Pakistan website.

This will be Alvi's first visit to China as President. A number of MoUs are expected to be signed during the visit. Beijing has pledged tens of millions of dollars under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, part of its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Alvi is a strong votary of the CPEC project.

The MoUs that could be signed during Alvi’s visit include the establishment of two new joint working groups for agriculture and science and technology under the CPEC. This was revealed by Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, in a series of tweets on Monday. “This is part of the broadening of CPEC from the first phase, which was mainly infrastructure, to a much broader economic partnership," tweeted Umar.