China, Pak to boost anti-terror efforts along $50 bn CPEC

BEIJING:China and Pakistan have agreed to strengthen anti-terror and security cooperation along the $50 billion economic corridor that links the restive regions of the two countries.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) connects Xinjiang province in northwest China with the deep-water Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea in southwestern Pakistan.

The CPEC, a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI), runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The security cooperation agreement was reached when Meng Jianzhu, head of the commission for political and legal affairs of the Communist Party Central Committee, met visiting Pakistani foreign minister Khawaja Asif and Pakistani national security adviser Nasser Khan Janjua on Friday in Beijing.

According to reports, Pakistan has deployed a 15,000-strong military force to protect Chinese nationals working on various projects linked to the CPEC.

Meng praised Pakistan’s efforts in counter-terrorism and called for strengthened anti-terrorism and security cooperation in building the ambitious economic corridor.

“China and Pakistan, as good friends, friendly neighbours and all-weather strategic cooperative partners, have always firmly supported each other’s core interests,” Meng said.