Pak army chief accompanies Imran Khan to key meetings in China

Khan is scheduled to hold talks with the top Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping, and discuss issues of regional and bilateral significance in his visit there. Bajwa was present in Khan's meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

pakistan prime minister imran khan, qamar javed bajwa, pakistan army chief javed bajwa, imran khan china visit, imran khan xi jinping, china pakistan relations,

Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa with Prime Minister Imran Khan (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa Tuesday accompanied Prime Minister Imran Khan during key meetings with top Chinese leaders on his two-day visit to China.

Khan is scheduled to hold talks with the top Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping, and discuss issues of regional and bilateral significance in his visit there. Bajwa was present in Khan’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, reported news agency PTI.

Khan’s visit to China, third since he took over as Prime Minister in August last year, acquires significance as it comes days ahead of President Xi’s planned high-profile visit to India to take part in the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mamallapuram near Chennai this week. However, there has been no official announcement yet on Xi’s visit to India.

China, Pakistan’s all-weathered-ally, has backed it on the Kashmir issue with its Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying, “no actions that would unilaterally change the status quo should be taken”.

In China, Bajwa separately called on Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and discussed the military ties between the two countries. He is also expected to accompany Khan in his meeting with President Xi Jinping and National People’s Congress (NPC) Li Zhanshu in Beijing, according to the news agency. Gen Bajwa, along with ISI chief Lieutenant-General Faiz Hameed, accompanied Khan during his recent visit to the UN to attend the General Assembly session.

In August this year, Khan extended the tenure of the Pakistan Army Chief for three years from the date he completes his current tenure “in view of the regional security environment”. Gen Bajwa, who turns 59 in November, was appointed to his current three-year term by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 29, 2016.

Pakistan has been ruled by the Army for about half of its history since it came into existence, and the office of the Army Chief has been the country’s most powerful for even longer.

Story continues below this ad

In theory, the Army Chief is chosen at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister, who may choose to consult with the sitting Chief and the Defence Minister, but is not bound to accept their advice. In practice, things are more complicated. Civilian governments have often had tense relationships with the military, and Prime Ministers attempt to seek loyalty and obedience from their chosen Army Chief.

Pakistan will engage China at the highest level for talks on several big projects in the fields of hydropower, oil refinery and steel mills as part of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during Khan’s visit to the country.

He will also hold talks with the top Chinese leadership to revive most of the CPEC projects that have reportedly been stalled due to various reasons, including prevailing financial crunch confronting the government and non-cooperation of the bureaucracy due to fear of the anti-corruption watchdog National Accountability Bureau.

(Inputs from PTI)