Chinese President Hu Jintao and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf concluded a wide-ranging set of agreements in Islamabad on Friday, covering trade, defense, energy, telecommunications, and nuclear cooperation. The two leaders signed 18 documents in total, including a free trade agreement and a Chinese investment package valued at up to 5 billion dollars. Bilateral trade currently stands at roughly 4 billion dollars annually, but officials hope the measures will push that figure to around 15 billion dollars within five years.
Defense ties figured prominently. China already supplies Pakistan with conventional weapons, and the two countries are jointly producing the JF-17 fighter jet. Pakistani air force officials reached a new understanding with Chinese counterparts on expanded aircraft manufacturing, including early-warning planes.
On nuclear matters, Hu confirmed that civilian nuclear power cooperation would continue, though he offered no specifics. Reports that China plans to build six additional nuclear power plants in Pakistan were dismissed as speculation by Pakistani officials.
Hu described the bilateral relationship as "higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the Indian Ocean," drawing applause at a televised address, the first by a foreign leader to Pakistani audiences since Bill Clinton in 2000. Musharraf awarded Hu the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country's highest civilian honor. Hu was scheduled to visit Lahore on Saturday.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.