Beijing. Chinese state media on Sunday expressed happiness over the prospects of Shahbaz Sharif becoming the new prime minister after Imran Khan’s ouster, saying relations between China and Pakistan could be “better than under Khan’s rule”. A new government is likely to be formed in Pakistan under the leadership of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz after the parliament meeting on Monday, a government-run Global Times article said.
“Chinese and Pakistani analysts believe that solid China-Pakistan relations will not be affected by internal political changes in Pakistan because of the need for all parties and all groups in Pakistan to secure and develop bilateral relations,” the article said. There is a joint consent.”
“Khan’s likely successor is from the Sharif family, which has been promoting China-Pakistan relations for a long time and cooperation between the two countries could be even better than Khan’s,” the article said.
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It was also said that the closer relations between the two countries were better under traditional political parties. Under the Nawaz Sharif-led government, the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) progressed well. China had objections to Khan as he was critical of the project when he was in opposition, though he later became a big fan of it after taking office in 2018.
Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, pointed out that the latest political changes in Pakistan are mainly due to political party conflicts and issues of the economy and people’s livelihoods. Qian said that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many in the country believe that Khan’s administration has failed to stop the economic situation from deteriorating. (agency)