China dismisses reports of rift with Pakistan, Xi met Sharif ‘several times’ in AstanaChina dismisses reports of rift with Pakistan, Xi met Sharif ‘several times’ in Astana

World News

China on Monday said Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had met ‘several times’ during the recently concluded Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) and denied rumours of any rift between the countries.

The statement, given by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes after reports had circulated that China’s Xi had not held a bilateral meeting with Sharif in Astana.

The reports were termed by China's foreign ministry as "baseless and pointless". 

“I can assure you that at the sidelines of the 17th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States, President Xi Jinping held friendly talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif many times,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The spokesperson did not confirm in his briefing if the talks between the two head of states were of bilateral nature or otherwise.  

He added that Pakistan and China are “all-weather strategic partners enjoying a relationship that runs long and deep”.

Earlier last week, Pakistan was accepted as a permanent member of SCO, a regional block promoting economy and security.

With the inclusion of Pakistan and India, the SCO now has a total of eight states as permanent members — after China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Other observer states and governments and international organisations are also part of the group.

The group will now represent nearly half of the world’s population after the inclusion of the subcontinental neighbours.