Pakistan set to strengthen counter-terrorism collaboration with China

• Gilgit-Baltistan cops to train at Xinjiang Police Academy.
• Pakistan, China agree to take sweeping counter-terror steps.
• Naqvi says Islamabad aims to eliminate arms, drugs, smuggling.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have agreed to strengthen strategic cooperation in key areas, including counter-terrorism efforts, cross-border cooperation, and measures to combat smuggling.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and a high-level Chinese delegation led by the Minister for Political and Legal Affairs, Chen Mingguo, in Islamabad. 

The Chinese delegation included Xinjiang’s Deputy Secretary of the Committee of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs, the Executive Director General of Police, and the Vice President of the Xinjiang Police Academy.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to conduct joint police and paramilitary exercises in Gilgit-Baltistan or Xinjiang, with GB police officers set to train at the Xinjiang Police Academy.

In this regard, a Pakistani delegation, led by the Federal Secretary of Interior, will soon visit Xinjiang to enhance cooperation.

It was also agreed that comprehensive measures would be taken against terrorism, which is a global issue. Speaking on the occasion, Naqvi said that Xinjiang province is of vital importance for Pakistan in its relations with China. 

He underscored that, besides being Pakistan’s neighbour, Pakistan shares a 600-kilometre-long border with Xinjiang. "The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project also passes through Xinjiang and Islamabad aims to eliminate the smuggling of drugs, arms, and other goods," Naqvi said.

He noted that the visit of the Pakistani delegation to Xinjiang would open new avenues for strengthening cooperation. For his part, Minister Mingguo expressed a desire to enhance relations with Pakistan in all fields. 

"Terrorism is a common problem and Xinjiang has suffered from it for many years," said Mingguo, highlighting that Pakistan could benefit from Xinjiang’s counter-terrorism experience.

In March this year, at least six people, including five Chinese nationals, were killed after a suicide bomber rammed into a bus transporting staff working on the Dasu hydropower project in Bisham, Shangla district.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) found Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) responsible for the attack and arrested four key terrorists. 

This was the second attack in the last three years on Chinese engineers working in the area. In July 2021, 13 people, including 9 Chinese nationals, two Frontier Constabulary personnel, and two locals, were killed when their coach was bombed in the Dasu area of Kohistan.