China To Host First-Ever Beijing-Islamabad Strategic Dialogue On Tuesday- Foreign Ministry

Sumaira FH Published March 18, 2019 | 02:48 PM

The first-ever strategic dialogue meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will be held in Beijing on Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Geng Shuang, said on Monday

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) The first-ever strategic dialogue meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will be held in Beijing on Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Geng Shuang, said on Monday.

"Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will hold in Beijing on March 19 the first bilateral strategic dialogue between the heads of the [two countries'] foreign ministries," Geng said at a briefing.

The spokesman added that Wang and Qureshi would discuss regional and international issues of common interest.

When asked whether the recent conflict between India and Pakistan would be discussed, Geng confirmed that the foreign ministers would address matters resulting in regional tensions.

"China as a neighbor state would like to see the reduction of tensions between India and Pakistan so that the countries continue dialogue for the sake of regional peace and stability," he stressed.

Wang has already said that China welcomed Indian-Pakistani dialogue and subsequent de-escalation of tensions.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated late last month, after the Pakistani military shot down two Indian warplanes in the disputed region of Kashmir. This came as a response to an earlier airstrike by an Indian aircraft against what New Delhi said was a camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad group, considered terrorists by India and located on the Pakistani soil across the so-called Line of Control, separating India- and Pakistan- controlled areas of Kashmir.

The Indian airstrike came after a deadly February 14 attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad on the Indian paramilitary police. While India has accused Pakistan of supporting the militants and having a "direct hand" in the incident, Pakistan, in turn, has rejected the allegations.