Syed Ali Zia Jaffery

Hours after returning from an official visit to China, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted, ‘Had a great meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping today. We agreed to further enhance our strategic and economic relations; and to fast track the second phase of CPEC.’

Khan’s tweet is instructive not only because it points to the trajectory that both countries want their ties to follow but also because it identifies one crown jewel that must be valued and taken forward: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). While Khan joining a select group of world leaders that attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was certainly emblematic of the growing strategic bonhomie between the two countries, it was his meetings with the Chinese leadership and their business community that reflected the importance Pakistan attaches to its ties with China. Thus, Khan’s parleys with China’s President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and business giants must be seen through a broader, more strategic prism. The way the visit panned out and the release of a long, 33-point joint statement all but indicate that Beijing and Islamabad are poised to take their ties to the next level. In essence, three takeaways from the visit augur well for Sino-Pak relations going forward.

First, both countries redoubled their commitment to making CPEC a success. In this regard, three things are noteworthy. One, Pakistan and China signed the much-awaited Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation under the auspices of CPEC. The said Framework is likely to provide a fillip to the completion