Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asserted on Friday that the security of Chinese in Pakistan was “paramount for us”.
“I would like to say with fullest force at my command that the security of Chinese brothers and sisters in Pakistan is paramount for us, it is most important. And we will leave no stone unturned to provide them with the best possible security,” he said while addressing the Pakistan-China Pharmaceutical and Healthcare B2B Investment Conference in Islamabad.
The conference also saw the signing of multiple agreements between Pakistani and Chinese companies in the areas of healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, with PM Shehbaz saying that the deals were cumulatively valued at almost $440 million.
PM Shehbaz’s assurance came two days after State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said authorities were stepping up security around the China-run Saindak copper and gold mine in Balochistan after supply routes were disrupted in the region by terrorists.
His statement came against the backdrop of kinetic operations in the province under Operation Shaban, a high-intensity counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaign launched by security forces following multiple high-casualty and high-profile terrorist attacks in Balochistan.
Chinese citizens and projects have also come under attack multiple times in Pakistan in the past. According to data shared by the National Counter Terrorism Authority in December 2024, as many as 20 Chinese citizens had been killed and 34 injured in terror attacks in the country from 2021 until then.
In 2024, five Chinese nationals working on the Dasu dam project perished in a suicide bombing in Bisham in March.
In April 2022, at least four people, including three Chinese nationals, were killed while four others were injured in a suicide attack outside the University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute, which was claimed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army.
Of the major attacks that have targeted Chinese citizens in Pakistan since 2021, a major one was when at least 12 persons, including nine Chinese engineers and two Frontier Corps personnel, were killed when a bus was attacked near the Dasu hydropower plant in KP’s Upper Kohistan district in July 2021.
‘Step forward in promoting CPEC 2.0’
Apart from assuring that the security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan would be ensured, PM Shehbaz also spoke about the ties between the countries and said that the agreements signed on the occasion would be converted into “implementable documents”.
“These agreements will most definitely convert into actions and implementable documents, and I think this is a step forward in promoting CPEC 2.0,” he said.
He described his recent visit to China as “wonderful”, further stating that China was one of Pakistan’s “most trusted and dependable friends”.
“China stood by pakistan through thick and thin, through the most difficult times, promoting pakistan’s economic trajectory, supporting Pakistan’s stand at international forums and joining hands together in CPEC 1.o, where more than $30 billion was invested by China in Pakistan — the single largest investment portfolio,” he said.
He also said that China was second to none in the field of economy and a power to reckon with in the field of strategic development and progress.
“The world cannot move without China, and I think this great achievement couldn’t have been without the very forward-looking dynamic leadership of President Xi Jinping,” he added.
He said Friday’s conference would be “great” in terms of promoting the pharmaceutical industry and would eventually lead to the manufacturing of life-saving medicines, vaccines, research and development and exports to neighbouring countries.