During the third round of the Pakistan-China Spokespersons’ Dialogue in Islamabad on Monday, the two countries called for bolstered cooperation between their foreign ministries as well as in the areas of media engagement and strategic communication, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

During this year’s dialogue, led by FO spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan and his Chinese counterpart, Mao Ning, the discussions revolved around ways to bolster cooperation between Islamabad and Beijing’s foreign ministries, particularly in the areas of media engagement, strategic communication and public diplomacy.

“Both sides underscored the importance of closer coordination, regular consultations and enhanced exchanges to promote mutual understanding and further deepen the longstanding friendship between Pakistan and China,” the FO said in a statement.

“Both sides expressed satisfaction with the ongoing cooperation between their foreign ministries and reiterated their commitment to maintaining close coordination and regular engagement under the spokespersons’ dialogue mechanism,” it added.

Meanwhile, Mao Ning also called on Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during her visit, with the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan present during the meeting.

“Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s firm commitment to further strengthening the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, rooted in mutual trust, respect and unwavering support for each other,” the FO statement read.

Dar also stressed the importance of enhanced media cooperation, strategic communication and public diplomacy to advance bilateral relations and foster closer people-to-people ties.

In a separate post on the social media platform X, the FO said that Dar appreciated regular consultations and exchanges between Islamabad and Beijing at all levels, noting that the spokespersons’ dialogue “provides an important platform to enhance media cooperation, strategic communication and public diplomacy, fostering greater mutual understanding and bringing the two peoples closer together”.

Pakistan and China share a longstanding strategic partnership rooted in mutual trust, economic cooperation and regional connectivity. Over the decades, ties have expanded across different sectors — including trade, energy, defence and infrastructure — with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) symbolising a shared vision for development.

According to the FO, the previous round of the dialogue was held virtually in 2022, led by then-FO spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad and then-Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying. The moot focused on bilateral relations, the functioning of the respective spokespersons’ offices, media cooperation and avenues of future collaboration.