Xi Jinping greets new Pak President Zardari; says close China-Pakistan ties ‘choice of history’

Asif Ali Zardari was congratulated by Chinese President Xi Jinping on his election as the president of Pakistan on Sunday. He said that the two nations’ “iron-clad” friendship is a historical decision and that its strategic importance has grown in light of the global changes that are currently taking place.

The late Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Zardari, was resoundingly elected as Pakistan’s 14th President on Saturday, making history as the nation’s only two-term civilian leader.

Zardari, who is also the co-chair of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was the joint candidate of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which forms the ruling coalition.

In his message to Zardari, Xi said “China and Pakistan are good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers, adding that the two countries’ iron-clad friendship is a choice of history and a precious treasure of the two peoples.”

Xi said that “the two countries have in recent years maintained close high-level exchanges, supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, achieved fruitful results in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and maintained a high level of development of bilateral relations,” state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

India has taken issue with China’s $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which travels through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to connect Gwadar port in Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province.