ISLAMABAD: Confusion reigned in the capital on Thursday after senior ruling party member Ahsan Iqbal announced that Chinese president Xi Jinping had ‘cancelled’ his upcoming visit to Pakistan, even before Beijing had made its plans regarding the visit public.

In a message on his twitter account @betterpakistan, the planning and development minister said: “Congrats! IK (Imran Khan) & TUQ (Tahirul Qadri) visit of China President is cancelled. Biggest diplomatic blow to Pakistan thanks to them. They have caused shame to us.”

But the development was vehemently denied by the Foreign Office and until late Thursday evening, there was no official word on whether the visit had been cancelled or would proceed as planned.

President Xi was scheduled to arrive in Pakistan for a two-day visit on Sept 15 as part of a trip that would also take him to India and Sri Lanka.

Sartaj Aziz, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs, told Dawn that the government was trying its best to salvage the visit and a final decision on the matter was expected soon.

“Pakistan and China are … friends and strategic partners. (Regarding) the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan, discussions are still going on (and) both sides are closely monitoring the situation in Islamabad,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said during her weekly media briefing.

Her comments echoed exactly what the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said about the possibility of the trip being postponed.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said: “China and Pakistan are in a very good relationship. We maintain close high-level exchanges. As for what the reports said about President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan, I have no information to offer.”

Speculation around the cancellation of President Xi’s visit due to protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek began after a Chinese security team arrived in the capital to assess the arrangements for the president’s visit.

In Ms Aslam’s words, the visit by the security team ahead of the presidential trip was “a normal procedure” that usually preceded high-level visits.

The president’s visit was viewed as essential because he was supposed sign investment agreements worth $32 billion.

Talking to Dawn, Ahsan Iqbal called the development “insulting, disgraceful and a big diplomatic and economic blow”, putting the onus of the cancellation squarely on the protesting leaders, Mr Khan and Dr Qadri.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari and Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq also reacted to the news, calling it a “most unfortunate setback” and “very bad news” for Pakistan.

A statement issued by the PPP’s media office said the former president had “expressed deep regret over the inability of all to end the standoff in Islamabad that has resulted in the most unfortunate setback to our relations with China manifested by the postponement of the scheduled visit to Pakistan of the Chinese president”.

He called upon the government to seek an immediate rescheduling of the visit of the Chinese president.

Mr Sirajul Haq, meanwhile, told journalists that he wished the visit may not have been cancelled. “If this has really been cancelled, then it is very bad news for Pakistan. This is great incompetence.”

Mr Iqbal told Dawn that the two sides had finalised everything to sign agreements involving $32bn Chinese investment. He said 14 projects, including power projects that would generate 10,400MW as well as infrastructure projects such as the Karachi-Lahore Motorway, the Karakoram Highway and the Gwadar Airport would now have to be shelved.

Responding to a question, he said the visit might be rescheduled but was quick to add that “it has been cancelled for now”.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2014