Pak Army chief Munir briefs Chinese FM Wang Yi on Iran visit

Beijing, May 26 (PTI) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, who briefed him on his latest visit to Iran amid the ongoing tensions involving Tehran and Washington.
     Munir concluded a short visit to Iran on Saturday during which he held high-level meetings with the Iranian leadership.
     From Iran, Munir travelled to China to join Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday. Sharif is on a four-day visit to China that began on Saturday.
     Munir met Wang separately in Beijing on Monday evening, according to an official Chinese statement.
     During the meeting, Munir briefed Wang on the latest progress relating to efforts to defuse the US-Iran tensions and said that a deal between the warring parties is close to being reached, the statement said.
     However, US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered fresh air strikes against Iranian targets despite the ceasefire between the two countries, signifying that there was no deal on hand yet.
     The US Central Command said Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to place mines were targeted in what it described as “self-defence strikes” in southern Iran.
     Munir is widely regarded as Pakistan's "strongman", with the military continuing to wield significant influence over the country's security and foreign policy.
     China maintains close ties with Pakistan’s powerful military establishment and has traditionally engaged directly with senior army leadership.
     President Xi had in 2018 met Munir’s predecessor, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, after Imran Khan assumed office as prime minister. Beijing was then seen to be concerned over Khan’s criticism of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), particularly the high cost of Chinese loans and investments.
     During his meeting with Munir, Wang praised the Pakistan military, saying it has always been an important force in promoting China-Pakistan cooperation, the statement said.
     He also expressed confidence that the Pakistan military would continue contributing to strengthening bilateral ties and building a China-Pakistan community with a shared future.
     Munir attended the meeting with only two aides. Even Pakistan's envoy to Beijing, Khalil Hashmi, was not seen in the photographs released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after the Wang-Munir talks.
     China is Pakistan's closest strategic partner, and the two countries describe their relationship as an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership”.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)