Pakistan, China in talks about security for Chinese nationals

The dialogue between Pakistan and China concerning security protocols for safeguarding Chinese citizens employed in the South Asian nation is ongoing, stated Islamabad’s envoy to Beijing on Wednesday.

Chinese citizens have become targets of separatist militants who think that Beijing is assisting Pakistan in extracting minerals in the impoverished southwestern province of Balochistan, where China holds strategic port and mining interests.

According to Ambassador Khalil Hashmi, it is Pakistan’s “national duty” and the nation is “making every effort,” he informed journalists at the Boao Forum in China’s Hainan province.

“I think our two countries work very closely in terms of information sharing, in terms of developing the standard operating procedures” to ensure Chinese nationals working in Pakistan are safe, he said.

“We keep our Chinese friends informed of the steps that we are taking, so it’s a work in progress.”

Beijing has been urging Pakistan to permit its own security personnel to safeguard thousands of Chinese nationals employed there, exasperated by the series of assaults on its citizens. This request followed a bombing at Karachi airport last October that resulted in the deaths of two Chinese engineers returning to work at a power facility.

Hashmi stated that discussions are still in progress, with a significant level of trust existing between the two nations.

“It’s a complex security environment,” he said, “We have the capability to resolve, to counter and combat and defeat these terrorist forces.”