ISLAMABAD — Visiting State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sept 8 met with Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and regional issues, especially the peace process in Afghanistan.

Wang said that the Pakistani military is the protector of the China-Pakistan friendship, and the bilateral military relations are an important part of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and a symbol of their high political mutual trust.

The state councilor told Bajwa that his visit aims at a comprehensive contact with the new Pakistani government so as to push the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two sides to a new stage and build a closer China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future.

The Pakistani military has made great efforts to ensure the security of CPEC which is a key to Pakistan’s long-term development, said Wang, adding that he believes the Pakistani military will continue to improve relevant security work for the construction of CPEC and China-Pakistan cooperation.

Meanwhile, Wang said the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have started to improve, hoping that the two sides will keep engaging in dialogues and accumulating mutual trust.

China is willing to utilize the trilateral foreign minister dialogue among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan to continuously play a constructive role in improving the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wang said.

For his part, the Pakistani army chief said that the new Pakistani government is devoted to lifting the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new high and the Pakistani military fully supports the development of the bilateral friendship and will keep adopting effective measures to guarantee the smooth development of CPEC.

Bajwa also said that the Pakistani side commits to the anti-terrorism cause and will continue to firmly fight against the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.

The army chief expressed his appreciation over China’s efforts on mediation for the improvement of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying Pakistan is devoted to improving its relations with Afghanistan and is willing to make more efforts on the reconciliation in Afghanistan.