Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Pakistani Chief of the Army Staff Syed Asim Munir on Saturday on the sidelines of the fifth China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue in Islamabad.

The foreign minister praised the solid friendship between China and Pakistan, pointing out that the two countries are all-weather strategic cooperative partners. China is looking forward to achieving higher-level cooperation with Pakistan, jointly meeting challenges and achieving common development, Qin said.

He added that China firmly supports Pakistan in achieving unity and stability as well as its self-reliant economic development and terrorism-crackdown efforts. China is willing to promote high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and strengthen military exchanges and defense cooperation, Qin said.

For his part, Munir said that China is Pakistan's ironclad brother, which has become a common consensus among the people of Pakistan. The Pakistan-China friendship is higher than mountains, deeper than oceans and sweeter than honey. He added that the Pakistani army will firmly carry forward the friendship and build an unwavering Pakistan-China community with a shared future.

The two sides also exchanged views on Afghanistan and other international and regional issues of mutual interest and concern.

(Cover image: Soldiers parade on Pakistan's National Day in the capital Islamabad, Pakistan, March 23, 2022. /CFP)