Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto to travel to China and Japan to boost bilateral ties

Mr. Bhutto’s visit is seen as Islamabad’s balancing act between China and Japan | File
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will embark on a two-nation visit to China and Japan on June 27 with the aim of deepening bilateral cooperation.

He will travel to China in the last week of June to attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “Summer Davos”, to be held from June 27 to June 29, in China’s Tianjin Municipality, official sources told The Express Tribune newspaper on June 15.

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Mr. Bhutto will also undertake a maiden visit to Japan in the first week of July. The country is a key development partner of Pakistan and the Foreign Minister’s visit would likely further deepen the cooperation, it said.

Tokyo has old ties with Islamabad and has supported the country financially. But in the preceding years, Japan’s relationship has grown exponentially with India while Pakistan has found greater comfort in the arms of China.

It is believed that Mr. Bhutto’s visit to Japan would help to maintain the balance in ties with Beijing and Tokyo.