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Pakistan PM hails China ties amid strains
with US May 18, 2011, 04.09am IST TNN BEIJING: Pakistan's prime minister
declared China his country's best friend in
an apparent dig at Washington as he
began a visit to China on Tuesday with US
ties tested over Osama bin Laden's killing. Yousuf Raza Gilani's trip follows the
killing of the Al-Qaeda leader by US
special forces on Pakistani soil this month
in a raid that has cast a pall over US-
Pakistan ties and was seen potentially
pushing Islamabad closer to Beijing. "We appreciate that in all difficult
circumstances, China stood with Pakistan.
Therefore we call China a true friend and
a time-tested and all-weather friend,"
Gilani told China's official Xinhua news
agency in an interview. "We are proud to have China as our best
and most trusted friend, and China will
always find Pakistan standing beside it at
all times," Gilani added, ahead of his
arrival in Shanghai late Tuesday --
confirmed by a Pakistani official. His comments appeared to underscore
tensions with Washington following the
May 2 US raid on a compound where bin
Laden was living in northern Pakistan,
which left the country's civilian and
military leaders angry and embarrassed. On Monday, US Senator John Kerry
demanded Pakistan make progress
against terrorism through "actions, not by
words" in a visit to the country. The fact that the terrorist mastermind
had been hiding out in Pakistan, possibly
for years, has raised accusations the
country's powerful security establishment
was either incompetent or complicit in
bin Laden finding a haven. After his return, Kerry said Tuesday that
Pakistan had made specific promises on
co-operation -- which he did not detail --
and that "we will know precisely what is
happening with them in very short order". But further fuelling tensions, NATO
helicopters from Afghanistan wounded
two Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border
attack Tuesday, triggering a "strong
protest" from Islamabad. Gilani had no engagements in China until
a speech Wednesday at a cultural forum
in the eastern city of Suzhou, Pakistani
officials said. He was then to travel to Beijing to meet
Chinese leaders including President Hu
Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The two sides are expected to sign a
series of cooperation agreements and
discuss how they can better combat
extremism. China is the main arms supplier to
Pakistan, which sees Beijing as an
important counter-balance to Pakistan's
traditional rival India. New Delhi has
recently improved its ties with the United
States, causing worry in Islamabad. China and Pakistan were expected to
reaffirm their "all-weather" friendship
during Gilani's stay. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu
said that Beijing "unswervingly" supports
Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts. "Pakistan has made very important
contributions in international counter-
terrorism cooperation as well as great
sacrifices," she told reporters. By contrast, Kerry stressed during his visit
that US lawmakers were demanding a
review of billions of dollars in aid money
to Pakistan. "Ultimately, the Pakistani people will
decide what kind of country Pakistan
becomes, whether it is a haven for
extremists or the tolerant democracy" it
was founded as, said Kerry, chairman of
the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Facing weak Western investment in its
moribund economy and crippling power
shortages, Pakistan is looking for closer
trade and energy ties with China. Pakistan last week opened a 330-
megawatt nuclear power plant in central
Punjab province with Chinese help and
said Beijing had been contracted to
construct two more reactors. The plans have triggered US concern over
the safety of nuclear materials in the
unstable, violence-plagued country where
Muslim militancy is strong. However, political analysts have said a
wary Beijing was unlikely to buttress its
verbal backing of Islamabad with
significant aid money or other new
support out of fear of getting too
entangled in the troubled nation's fortunes. At a US Senate hearing on ties with
Pakistan on Tuesday, a key US senator
said Gilani's comments would make it
harder to convince an angry US public that
their country should continue aid to
Islamabad. Continued aid, Republican Senator James
Risch argued, was "a hard sell to the
American people" when cash-strapped
Washington sends help, only to see "the
head of Pakistan go to China and ... stand
up and say 'you're our best friend.'" Former White House national security
adviser Jim Jones said: "If any part of
Pakistan's thinking is that better
relations with China make India mad, and
that's therefore a good thing to do, then
that's flawed thinking."
with US May 18, 2011, 04.09am IST TNN BEIJING: Pakistan's prime minister
declared China his country's best friend in
an apparent dig at Washington as he
began a visit to China on Tuesday with US
ties tested over Osama bin Laden's killing. Yousuf Raza Gilani's trip follows the
killing of the Al-Qaeda leader by US
special forces on Pakistani soil this month
in a raid that has cast a pall over US-
Pakistan ties and was seen potentially
pushing Islamabad closer to Beijing. "We appreciate that in all difficult
circumstances, China stood with Pakistan.
Therefore we call China a true friend and
a time-tested and all-weather friend,"
Gilani told China's official Xinhua news
agency in an interview. "We are proud to have China as our best
and most trusted friend, and China will
always find Pakistan standing beside it at
all times," Gilani added, ahead of his
arrival in Shanghai late Tuesday --
confirmed by a Pakistani official. His comments appeared to underscore
tensions with Washington following the
May 2 US raid on a compound where bin
Laden was living in northern Pakistan,
which left the country's civilian and
military leaders angry and embarrassed. On Monday, US Senator John Kerry
demanded Pakistan make progress
against terrorism through "actions, not by
words" in a visit to the country. The fact that the terrorist mastermind
had been hiding out in Pakistan, possibly
for years, has raised accusations the
country's powerful security establishment
was either incompetent or complicit in
bin Laden finding a haven. After his return, Kerry said Tuesday that
Pakistan had made specific promises on
co-operation -- which he did not detail --
and that "we will know precisely what is
happening with them in very short order". But further fuelling tensions, NATO
helicopters from Afghanistan wounded
two Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border
attack Tuesday, triggering a "strong
protest" from Islamabad. Gilani had no engagements in China until
a speech Wednesday at a cultural forum
in the eastern city of Suzhou, Pakistani
officials said. He was then to travel to Beijing to meet
Chinese leaders including President Hu
Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The two sides are expected to sign a
series of cooperation agreements and
discuss how they can better combat
extremism. China is the main arms supplier to
Pakistan, which sees Beijing as an
important counter-balance to Pakistan's
traditional rival India. New Delhi has
recently improved its ties with the United
States, causing worry in Islamabad. China and Pakistan were expected to
reaffirm their "all-weather" friendship
during Gilani's stay. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu
said that Beijing "unswervingly" supports
Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts. "Pakistan has made very important
contributions in international counter-
terrorism cooperation as well as great
sacrifices," she told reporters. By contrast, Kerry stressed during his visit
that US lawmakers were demanding a
review of billions of dollars in aid money
to Pakistan. "Ultimately, the Pakistani people will
decide what kind of country Pakistan
becomes, whether it is a haven for
extremists or the tolerant democracy" it
was founded as, said Kerry, chairman of
the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Facing weak Western investment in its
moribund economy and crippling power
shortages, Pakistan is looking for closer
trade and energy ties with China. Pakistan last week opened a 330-
megawatt nuclear power plant in central
Punjab province with Chinese help and
said Beijing had been contracted to
construct two more reactors. The plans have triggered US concern over
the safety of nuclear materials in the
unstable, violence-plagued country where
Muslim militancy is strong. However, political analysts have said a
wary Beijing was unlikely to buttress its
verbal backing of Islamabad with
significant aid money or other new
support out of fear of getting too
entangled in the troubled nation's fortunes. At a US Senate hearing on ties with
Pakistan on Tuesday, a key US senator
said Gilani's comments would make it
harder to convince an angry US public that
their country should continue aid to
Islamabad. Continued aid, Republican Senator James
Risch argued, was "a hard sell to the
American people" when cash-strapped
Washington sends help, only to see "the
head of Pakistan go to China and ... stand
up and say 'you're our best friend.'" Former White House national security
adviser Jim Jones said: "If any part of
Pakistan's thinking is that better
relations with China make India mad, and
that's therefore a good thing to do, then
that's flawed thinking."
