File picture of police officers examine the site of suicide bombing at a highway in Shangla, district in the Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on March 26, 2024. A convoy of Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydropower project was targeted in the attack, resulting in casualties.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government in Pakistan has implemented measures requiring Chinese citizens to travel with armoured vehicles while in the region, Dawn reported. This decision was disclosed by a senior police official during a meeting held on May 1.

Deputy Inspector General of Police in Hazara range, Tahir Ayub Khan, stated, “As we’re adopting all possible measures for the safety of Chinese nationals, they shouldn’t travel in the province without armoured vehicles in line with the government’s directions.”

The meeting, which convened to discuss security arrangements for the Suki Kinari hydropower project in the Malkandi area of Kaghan Valley, brought together key stakeholders including security personnel, Chinese engineers, and project managers. During the discussions, emphasis was placed on ensuring stringent security measures to protect the lives of those involved in critical infrastructure projects, Dawn reported.

Inspecting the sites of the Suki Kinari and Balakot hydropower projects, DIG Tahir Ayub Khan reiterated the government’s stance on maintaining high standards of security. He emphasised that residential colonies housing Chinese engineers and workers would have boundary walls of no less than eight feet in height, potentially topped with barbed wire for added protection.

The heightened security measures come in the wake of a recent incident wherein a convoy of Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydropower project in Shangla district was targeted in a suicide attack, resulting in casualties. Following the attack, security concerns have been elevated, prompting authorities to take proactive steps to mitigate risks and ensure the safety of foreign nationals.

Chinese President Xi said he highly regards the development of China-Pakistan relations and is ready to work with President Zardari to carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 10 congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on his election as the Pakistan President, saying that the “iron-clad friendship” between the two countries is a “choice of history” and the “strategic significance” of the ties has become more “prominent” in the light of current changes in the world.

Mr. Zardari, the husband of late Pakistan Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto was overwhelmingly elected as the 14th President of Pakistan on Saturday, becoming the only civilian president of the coup-prone country for a second time.

Mr. Zardari, the co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was the joint candidate of the ruling alliance of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In his message to Mr. Zardari on Sunday, Mr. Xi said “China and Pakistan are good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers, adding that the two countries’ iron-clad friendship is a choice of history and a precious treasure of the two peoples.”

Mr. Xi said that “the two countries have in recent years maintained close high-level exchanges, supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, achieved fruitful results in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and maintained a high level of development of bilateral relations,” state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

India has objected to China over the $60 billion CPEC connecting China’s Xinjiang with Gwadar port in Balochistan as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Mr. Xi in his message said, that as the world is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century, the strategic significance of China-Pakistan relations has become more prominent.

Mr. Xi said he highly regards the development of China-Pakistan relations, and is ready to work with President Zardari to carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, advance practical cooperation in various fields, push for greater development of China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, accelerate the building of an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, so as to better benefit the two peoples.

Earlier, Mr. Xi greeted Shehbaz Sharif on being elected as Pakistan’s Prime Minister.

The return of Mr. Shehbaz and his brother Nawaz Sharif as well as Mr. Zardari at the helm of Pakistan’s politics and government in the midst of chaos and severe economic crisis in Pakistan is viewed with a sense of relief here as all three of them over their years in power in the past few decades maintained close ties with Chinese leaders and furthered the strategic ties with Beijing viewed widely as a strategic alliance against India.

China had an uneasy relationship with former prime minister Imran Khan’s government which was blamed for the slow pace of $60 billion CPEC.

China has been providing forex loans and rollover of its debt periodically to bail out Pakistan which is facing a severe economic crisis.

Recent reports from Islamabad said China has agreed to roll over a $2 billion loan due to be paid in March.