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Li's Pakistan visit signals stronger ties

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Chinese premier Li Keqiang on May 19 embarked on an official visit to India, Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany, with the first leg in India receiving wide attention from the world's media. Premier Li's visit to Pakistan will also be closely scrutinized, as it immediately follows the country's general election.

Premier Li Keqiang is congratulated by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after being conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan honor, for the highest degree of service to Pakistan, in Islamabad on Wednesday. [Pang Xinglei/ XINHUA]

The visit is in keeping with protocol for Chinese leaders, who generally visit Pakistan after visiting India in order to maintain balanced relations with both countries specifically and ensure the continuation of China's equitable south Asian policy. China places more emphasis on Pakistan's regional strategic role than it does on India's and dialogue between China and Pakistan is becoming increasingly extensive, which implies that the Sino-Pakistan relationship is important in China's peripheral diplomatic strategy. Premier Li's visit to Pakistan sends out a clear signal that China is dedicated to strengthening friendly ties between the two countries.

Pakistan is the second biggest country in South Asia and therefore an important element in China's thinking as China looks to develop its economic, political and strategic influence. To this end, China has founded a free trade zone with Pakistan, which provides a solid foundation for economic cooperation between the two sides and also gives China an opportunity to enter the South Asian market.

China has in recent years been committed to strengthening its relationship with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and has become an observer of SAARC, which Pakistan helped to facilitate. There is no question that China needs SAARC in order to expand its influence in South Asia.

Pakistan is also important to China in a strategic sense and the sentiment appears mutual. There have been growing calls from a number of influential figures, including former Pakistani presidents Musharraf and Zardari, for a rail link between the two countries. China has yet to respond to such calls, but in light of the worsening situation in China's South-east sea areas, the time is surely propitious for China to develop its strategy in terms of its more westerly regions, which would reap manifold benefits, giving China the opportunity to extend its influence to India through Pakistan and allowing it to have a greater influence in Afghanistan, Iran and other Muslim countries, providing an ideal foundation for China's Middle East strategy. It would clearly be shortsighted for China to either ignore or abruptly interfere in Afghanistan's affairs, so strategic caution must be the best policy. Since Pakistan shares historical links with Afghanistan, especially with the Taliban, China needs to maintain close relations with Pakistan in order to learn about Afghanistan and the Taliban so that it can prepare to extend its influence in Afghanistan.

Pakistan is also very important to China in terms of national security, with Pakistan in the center of the global struggle against terrorism. China's Xinjiang Uygur Atonomous Region also faces the threat of terrorism, with the recent terrorist attack in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region providing a reminder that terrorism is right on China's doorstep. There is no doubt that China can learn from Pakistan on anti-terrorism issues.

All in all, Pakistan plays an important role in China's regional diplomatic strategy. Premier Li's visit to Pakistan shows that China attaches importance to its relationship with Pakistan. In addition, the Pakistan Muslim League's recent election victory means that China's new leadership should evaluate what this will mean for Pakistan in the long term.

The article was translated by Liu Qiang. Its original version was published in Chinese.

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