Chinese leader Xi Jinping met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing on Monday (May 25), state news agency Xinhua reported, as diplomatic efforts by several countries to formally end the Iran war drag on.
The meeting followed Sharif’s talks earlier in the day with Premier Li Qiang, China’s number-two leader. Sharif was accompanied by army chief Asim Munir — Islamabad’s key negotiator between Washington and Tehran — who had visited Iran on Friday and Saturday alongside Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi as part of the mediation push.
Xi praised Pakistan for “taking the initiative to play a mediating role in restoring peace in the Middle East,” according to a Chinese readout. “Both sides should continue to maintain close communication and coordination (and) jointly oppose unilateralism and Cold War mentality,” he said. China has played a quieter mediation role, shepherding phone calls and meetings with officials of affected Gulf countries.
Speaking alongside Munir, Sharif told his hosts “the world is passing through a critical moment.” He said Pakistan had “played a sincere role to mediate between US and Iran” and thanked Beijing for its backing, adding: “Things are moving in the right direction.”
Pakistan hosted the only direct US-Iran negotiations to take place since the war began, but those April talks failed to yield a lasting agreement. The renewed diplomacy comes as Washington’s envoy Marco Rubio said the United States would pursue “another way” if talks collapse, and as the first tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz bound for Pakistan and China. Sharif began his four-day visit in Hangzhou on Saturday.
Source: Ada Derana (Reuters).
