‘Iron brothers’ eye new ties after Uri attack

| K J M VARMA

Published : Oct 15, 2016, 7:09 am IST

Updated : Oct 15, 2016, 7:09 am IST

Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, who is one of the leading contenders to become the next chief of the Pakistan Army, has held talks with a senior Chinese military official, becoming the first

Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, who is one of the leading contenders to become the next chief of the Pakistan Army, has held talks with a senior Chinese military official, becoming the first top Pakistani military official to visit China after the Uri terror attack.

Lt. Gen. Hayat, chief of general staff of the Pakistan Army, held talks with Gen. Fang Fenghui, member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the Joint Staff Department, state-run China Military Online reported.

CMC — headed by President Xi Jinping — is the supreme political military organisation which exercises control over all wings of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The report did not mention the purpose of Gen. Hayat’s visit, but it comes ahead of the scheduled retirement of Gen. Raheel Sharif in November. Gen. Hayat, who hails from a military family, is among the leading candidates seen as a replacement for Gen. Sharif.

Gen. Fang Fenghui in his meeting with Gen. Hayat on Thursday said China and Pakistan were “iron brothers” with all-weather partnership.

China is willing to make joint efforts with Pakistan to achieve development, so as to benefit the people of the two countries, the report quoted Gen. Fang as saying. Chinese military was willing to work with Pakistani military to strengthen strategic communication, deepen pragmatic cooperation in fields such as joint exercises and training, construction of anti-terrorism capability and information sharing, he said.

Gen. Fang said the two militaries would make full use of the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism, among Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan, to counter terrorism, and push forward implementation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, to make positive contributions to safeguard regional and world peace.

Lt. Gen. Hayat said Pakistan and China with their unique ties were good friends. He hoped the two sides could further strengthen their cooperation in various fields, especially in defence and security sectors, the report said.