China's FM to visit Pakistan after India trip
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in Islamabad this week to lead his country in the Pakistan-China strategic dialogue and hold meetings with the civil and military leadership to discuss bilateral ties along with key regional and international developments.
Official sources told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the top Chinese diplomat will undertake a two-day visit beginning on August 21, flying in directly from New Delhi, where he starts a crucial tour on Monday.
In Islamabad, the Chinese foreign minister will review the current state of bilateral ties between the two countries and discuss key regional and international developments.
His visit comes against a backdrop of a host of developments, including the India-Pakistan military conflict in May, the Iran-Israel war in June and the recent warming of ties between Pakistan and the United States.
China's support played a pivotal role in Pakistan's victory over India during the four-day conflict. Although Beijing did not participate directly, Chinese J-10C fighters and PL-15 beyond-visual-range missiles (BVR) helped Pakistan shoot down six Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafales.
China also extended diplomatic backing to Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, supporting Islamabad's call for a third-party investigation into the incident that brought the two nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of full-scale war.
Given the current geostrategic environment, both sides are expected to explore ways to further deepen cooperation. Contacts between the two countries have increased markedly in recent months.
During Wang's visit, the agenda of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's upcoming trip to China is also expected to be finalised. The prime minister is likely to travel later this month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and hold bilateral meetings with the Chinese leadership.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected to visit Dhaka on August 23, in a trip that was twice postponed due to regional tensions. Dar was initially scheduled to visit Bangladesh in April, but the Pahalgam attack and ensuing Pakistan-India military escalation delayed the trip.
The forthcoming visit highlights the steady improvement in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations. Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina Wajid a year ago, ties between the two countries have undergone a dramatic shift.
The former Awami League government maintained minimal engagement with Pakistan. However, the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Younus moved to restore ties by lifting restrictions on Pakistani exports and diplomats, and by commencing direct sea trade.
Dar's trip is part of efforts to consolidate the rapprochement, with formal talks scheduled with his Bangladeshi counterpart and Chief Advisor Muhammad Younus.
Ahead of the visit, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal will be in Dhaka this week for discussions on trade and commercial ties.
It is expected that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb may follow in September to attend the first Pakistan-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission meeting in 20 years.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Senior Iranian official warns war with Israel could break out anytime
A 3D printed miniature model of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS A senior Iranian official warned Monday that war with Israel could erupt at any moment, describing the current lull after June's 12-day conflict as only a temporary halt. "We must be prepared at every moment for confrontation; right now, we are not even in a ceasefire (agreement); we are in a cessation of hostilities," said First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref. The fighting in June saw Israel bombard Iranian nuclear and military sites, as well as residential areas, killing more than 1,000 people, including senior commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes that killed dozens in Israel. Read More: Iranian forces kill seven militants in Southeast clash The United States announced a halt in fighting on June 24, two days after it joined the war by bombing Iranian nuclear facilities. But there was no agreement formalising the ceasefire, only an undeclared pause in hostilities. On Sunday, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Iranian media the country was "preparing plans for the worst-case scenario". "We are not in a ceasefire now, we are in a war phase, it could break down at any time, there is no protocol, no regulations, no agreement between us and the Israelis, between us and the Americans," he said in remarks carried by the Shargh daily. "A ceasefire means ceasing attacks; that could change at any time," he added. Since then, Iranian officials have insisted the country is not seeking war but is ready for another confrontation. Western powers accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons through its atomic programme, a charge Tehran strongly denies. Following the war, Israel and the United States repeatedly threatened to attack Iran again should Tehran relaunch its nuclear sites and resume its nuclear enrichment programme. Also Read: Thousands evacuate homes as fears of Israeli ground offensive grow in Gaza The United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country that enriches uranium to 60 percent -- far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by a landmark international accord reached in 2015. The level is a short step from the 90-percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon. Last week, Britain, France and Germany, all signatories to the 2015 deal, threatened to reimpose sanctions lifted under the agreement. Iran has warned of serious consequence with some officials in the country hinting at withdrawal of Tehran from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Express Tribune
4 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Thousands evacuate homes as fears of Israeli ground offensive grow in Gaza
Displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza travel in a vehicle while they head south as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to the southern part of the enclave, in Gaza City, August 18, Fearing an imminent Israeli ground offensive, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes in eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and south of the shattered territory. Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home where tens of thousands of Israelis held some of the largest protests seen since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza. The planned offensive has spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts in what a source familiar with the talks with Hamas militants in Cairo said could be "the last-ditch attempt." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas' last big urban bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75% of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare. Read More: Hamas rejects Israel's Gaza relocation plan In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive. An Israeli armoured incursion into Gaza City could see the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times earlier in the war. Ahmed Mheisen, Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south. With the Israeli offensive looming, Mheisen put the number of tents needed for emergency shelter at 1.5 million, saying Israel had allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire. The UN humanitarian office said last week 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza. "The people of Gaza City are like someone who received a death sentence and is awaiting execution," said Tamer Burai, a Gaza City businessman. "I am moving my parents and my family to the south today or tomorrow. I can't risk losing any of them should there be a surprising invasion," he told Reuters via a chat app. A protest is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City by different unions, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas. The last round of indirect ceasefire talks ended in late July in deadlock with the sides trading blame for its collapse. Sources close to the Cairo talks said Egyptian and Qatari mediators had met with leaders of Hamas, allied militant group Islamic Jihad and other factions with little progress reported. Talks will continue on Monday, the sources added. Hamas told mediators it was ready to resume talks about a U.S.-proposed 60-day truce and release of half the hostages, one official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, but also for a wider deal that would end the war. Diplomatic deadlock Israel says it will agree to cease hostilities if all the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its arms - the latter demand publicly rejected by the Islamist group until a Palestinian state is established. A Hamas official told Reuters on Monday the group continues to reject Israeli demands to disarm or expel its leaders from Gaza. Gaps also appear to linger regarding the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and how humanitarian aid will be delivered around the enclave, where malnutrition is rife and aid groups warn of unfolding famine. On Saturday, the Israeli military said it was preparing to help equip Gazans with tents and other shelter equipment ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave. It did not provide further details on quantities or how long it would take to get the equipment into the enclave. "Existing tents where people are living (in the south) have worn out and won't protect people against rainwater. There are no new tents in Gaza because of the Israeli restrictions on aid at the border crossings," Palestinian economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab told Reuters. He said some Gaza City families had begun renting property and shelters in the south and moved in their belongings. "Some people learned from previous experience, and they don't want to be taken by surprise. Also, some think it is better to move earlier to find a space," Abu Jayyab added. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. More than 61,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's ensuing air and ground war in Gaza, according to local health officials, with most of the 2.2 million population internally displaced. Five more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday, raising the number of people who died of those causes to 263, including 112 children, since the war started. Israel disputed the figures provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Gaza tribunal urges UN armed action to stop genocide Former UN official Richard Falk warns in Istanbul that failure to act against Israel's Gaza offensive would mark 'historic failure of humanity' The Gaza Tribunal on Monday called for an urgent international armed intervention to stop what it described as Israel's "most lethal phase of genocide" in Gaza, warning that failure to act would mark "an historic failure of humanity." At a press conference in Istanbul, tribunal president Richard Falk urged governments to bypass the UN Security Council and let the General Assembly authorize armed intervention in Gaza. PHOTO: ANADOLU At a press conference held in Istanbul, the president of the independent tribunal, Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at the US' Princeton University and the former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories (2008–2014), urged governments to bypass the Security Council and empower the UN General Assembly to authorize armed intervention. "If we do not take action of a serious and drastic kind at this time, anything done in a more moderate fashion will be too late, too late to save the surviving people who have already been traumatized by more than 22 months of genocide," Falk said. "The eyes and the ears of the world have been exposed, as never before, including the Holocaust, to the transparency of genocide carried out in real time. It challenges our humanity." Falk criticized Western democracies for what he called "complicit behavior," while noting shifts in public opinion. "We are trying to address the conscience of all people and encourage the kind of activism that will produce changes in government ahead, particularly an arms embargo and various forms of sanctions … including the kind of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle that proved so effective in the anti-apartheid campaign," he said. 'Not only for Gaza but for well-being of the world' Handed over to Anadolu, the tribunal's emergency statement, titled Time to ACT: Mobilizing Against Israel's Planned Conquest on Gaza City and Central Gaza, highlighted Israel's Aug. 7 National Security Cabinet decision, which Falk said was "opposed by Israel's own military high command," to press forward with the conquest of Gaza City, where nearly 1 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. "The imminent escalation deeply challenges member governments of the UN … to take drastic action now," Falk declared, citing legal pathways such as the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution and the Responsibility to Protect framework adopted at the UN's 2005 summit. Quoting Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour's appeal for immediate protection forces, the tribunal declared: "We, as the Gaza Tribunal, join with those who treat silence in the face of genocide as complicity." Falk also condemned what he called systematic efforts to silence truth-telling. He pointed to sanctions against UN human rights rapporteurs and the "August 10th assassination of Assas al-Shafir and his Al Jazeera colleagues in another violent deliberate effort to silence truth tellers." "Part of the Gaza Tribunal is to strengthen the role of truth or conceptions of reality. And that is of strategic importance not only for Gaza but for the well-being of the world," he added. The tribunal is now preparing to raise the issue at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York next month. "We hope to have laid the groundwork for doing that by the action of releasing this statement today," Falk said. What is Gaza Tribunal? The Gaza Tribunal was launched in London in November 2024 by nearly 100 academics, intellectuals, human rights advocates, and civil society figures, citing "the total failure of the organized international community to implement international law" in Gaza. Since then, it has convened multiple sessions, including a February 2025 chamber meeting in London and a strategy gathering in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul to brief the international public. In May, the tribunal held a four-day public session in Sarajevo, Bosnia, hearing testimony from witnesses, journalists, academics, and experts. That session culminated in the Sarajevo Declaration, which formally accused Israel of genocide, war crimes, and apartheid. There will be a final hearing in October in Istanbul, where the "Jury of Conscience will deliver a moral verdict based on all testimonies and evidence," noted another statement handed to Anadolu by the tribunal. Palestinian PM: Interim body to govern Gaza after ceasefire 'Gaza is an integral part of our state, and our government is the only executive body authorized to manage its affairs,' Mohammad Mustafa says An interim Palestinian committee will govern the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire is reached, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said on Monday. 'The Gaza Management Committee, which will be announced soon, is an interim committee under the authority of the Palestinian government,' Mustafa told a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty at the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip. Also Read: 39 killed in Gaza as Israel expands offensive 'Gaza is an integral part of our state, and our government is the only executive body authorized to manage its affairs,' he added. Mustafa stressed that the Israeli assault on Gaza 'does not give any party, local or international, legitimacy to impose superior arrangements' on the enclave. An interim Palestinian committee will govern the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire is reached, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said on Monday. PHOTO: ANADOLU The premier said the Palestinian Authority is working with Egypt to prepare a conference for the reconstruction of Gaza 'as soon as possible.' Israel's closure of the Rafah crossing to the entry of aid trucks into Gaza is 'a message to the world that Israel is starving the Palestinian people to force their displacement,' Mustafa said. On Aug. 8, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to gradually occupy the Gaza Strip, beginning with Gaza City. The plan envisions the takeover of Gaza City by displacing nearly 1 million residents to the south, surrounding the city, and then carrying out raids into its neighborhoods. A second phase would involve retaking refugee camps in central Gaza, much of which has already been reduced to rubble. Israel has killed more than 61,900 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Thousands of Palestinians leave Gaza City fearing Israeli offensive
CAIRO: Fearing an imminent Israeli ground offensive, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes in eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and south in the shattered territory. Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home where tens of thousands of Israelisheld some of the largest protests since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The planned offensive has spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts in what a source familiarwith the talks with Hamas in Cairo said could be 'the last-ditch attempt.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas' last big urban bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75% of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare. Dani Miran, whose son Omri was taken hostage on October 7, said he fears the consequences of an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City. 'I'm scared that my son would be hurt,' he said in a Reuters interview in Tel Aviv on Monday. Amnesty says Israel deliberately starving Gaza's Palestinians In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive. An Israeli armoured incursion into Gaza City could displace hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times during the war. Ahmed Mheisen, Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south. With the Israeli offensive looming, Mheisen put the number of tents needed for emergency shelter at 1.5 million, saying Israel had allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire. The U.N. humanitarian office said last week 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza. 'The people of Gaza City are like someone who received a death sentence and is awaiting execution,' said Tamer Burai, a Gaza City businessman. 'I am moving my parents and my family to the south today or tomorrow. I can't risk losing any of them should there be a surprising invasion,' he told Reuters via a chat app. A protest by unions is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas. The last round of indirect ceasefire talks ended in late July in deadlock with the sides trading blame for its collapse. Israel PM says 'will allow' Palestinians to leave Gaza Sources close to the Cairo talks said Egyptian and Qatari mediators had met with leaders of Hamas, allied Islamic Jihad and other factions with little progress reported. Hamas told mediators it was ready to resume talks about a U.S.-proposed 60-day truce and release of half the hostages, one official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, but also for a wider deal that would end the war. Diplomatic deadlock Israel says it will agree to cease hostilities if all the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its arms - the latter demand publicly rejected by the Islamist group until a Palestinian state is established. A Hamas official told Reuters on Monday the group rejects Israeli demands to disarm or expel its leaders from Gaza. Sharp differences also appear to remain over the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and how humanitarian aid will be delivered around the enclave, where malnutrition is rife and aid groups warn of unfolding famine. Underscoring the gaps in talks on a ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform on Monday: 'We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be.' On Saturday, the Israeli military said it was preparing to help equip Gazans with tents and other shelter equipment ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave. It did not provide further details on quantities or how long it would take to get the equipment into the enclave. 'Existing tents where people are living (in the south) have worn out and won't protect people against rainwater. There are no new tents in Gaza because of the Israeli restrictions on aid at the border crossings,' Palestinian economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab told Reuters. Jordanian official says Arabs will only support what Palestinians agree and decide on He said some Gaza City families had begun renting property and shelters in the south and moved in their belongings. 'Some people learned from previous experience, and they don't want to be taken by surprise. Also, some think it is better to move earlier to find a space,' Abu Jayyab added. More than 61,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's ensuing air and ground war in Gaza, according to local health officials who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants. Five more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday, raising the number of people who died of those causes to 263, including 112 children, since the war started. Israel disputed the figures provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
