BEIJING: Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi urged Pakistan to investigate a blast on a bus that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, but stopped short of calling it an attack, according to a post on Thursday on the foreign ministry’s website.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson called the Wednesday blast a bomb attack later that day but Pakistan said a mechanical failure caused a gas leak that led to the explosion.
The blast sent the bus crashing into a ravine in Khyber-Paktunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan where Chinese engineers have for several years been working on hydroelectric projects as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
China is a close ally and major investor in Pakistan and various militants fighting the Pakistani state have in the past attacked Chinese projects.
Wang told Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi that if it was indeed a “terrorist attack,” and Pakistan should immediately arrest the culprits and punish them severely, according to the Chinese ministry’s summary of a meeting they had in Dushanbe on Wednesday.
Wang, who is China’s State Councillor and foreign minister, said “lessons should be learned” and both sides should further strengthen security measures for China-Pakistan cooperation projects to ensure their safe and smooth operation.
The two spoke in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
China foreign minister urges Pakistan to investigate bus blast that killed 9 Chinese
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China foreign minister urges Pakistan to investigate bus blast that killed 9 Chinese
- A blast on a bus killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, on Wednesday in northwest Pakistan
- Pakistan blamed it on a mechanical failure, Chinese foreign minister calls it “terrorist attack“
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to establish ‘mutual trust’ amid improving bilateral ties
- Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar speaks to Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi on the telephone
- Both agree to work to finalize framework agreement for Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) railway project
ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Sunday agreed to continue working to establish “mutual trust” between the two nations, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement, amid recent improvement in ties between Kabul and Islamabad.
Pakistan and Afghanistan this week agreed to upgrade diplomatic relations, with Islamabad announcing it would elevate its chargé d’affaires in Kabul to ambassadorial rank. Kabul said it would reciprocate the move.
Ties between the two countries have been tense in recent years, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan’s Taliban administration of harboring militants involved in cross-border attacks, leading to a deportation drive against undocumented Afghan nationals. Kabul has criticized Pakistan’s deportation drive and denied its nationals are involved in crimes on Pakistani soil.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke to Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on the phone to discuss diplomatic relations between the two countries on Sunday. Muttaqi, according to Pakistan’s foreign office, informed Dar that Afghanistan has decided to reciprocate Islamabad’s gesture to upgrade diplomatic relations to the ambassador level, terming it a “very positive development.”
“Both leaders also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken during DPM/FM’s visit to Kabul on 19 April 2025 and vowed to continue working together to establish mutual trust between the two brotherly nations,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
Efforts to ease tensions between the two countries also gained momentum in recent months. During a trilateral meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing in May, Pakistan and Afghanistan had announced plans to exchange ambassadors.
Afghan authorities said this week Muttaqi is due to visit Pakistan “in the coming days.”
The two officials also spoke about the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Line Project. Dar spoke to his Uzbek counterpart on Saturday to discuss the UAP, including the framework agreement and its signing mechanism.
“Emphasizing the importance of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Line Project for regional connectivity, both leaders agreed to work closely for an early finalization of the framework agreement,” the foreign office said.
The UAP railway is a trilateral initiative aimed at enhancing regional connectivity by linking Central Asia with Pakistan’s southern ports of Gwadar and Karachi through Afghanistan.
Envisioned in 2021, the project is expected to improve trade access for landlocked countries and bolster economic integration in the region.
Pakistan says Makkah Route Initiative to be extended to other cities for next year’s Hajj
- Pakistani religious affairs minister meets Saudi minister for Hajj to discuss pilgrimage arrangements
- Makkah Route Initiative enables pilgrims to complete travel formalities at their departure airports
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf announced on Sunday that the Makkah Route Initiative facility will be extended to other cities of the country for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage.
The Makkah Route Initiative is designed to streamline immigration processes by enabling pilgrims to complete official travel formalities at their departure airports. Initially tested in Islamabad in 2019, the program was later expanded to Karachi, benefitting tens of thousands of Pakistani travelers. This saves pilgrims several hours upon arrival in the Kingdom, as they can simply enter the country without having to go through immigration again.
Yousaf met Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, Pakistan’s religion ministry said on Sunday, to discuss Hajj 2025 arrangements in the Kingdom.
“The scope of the Road to Makkah project will be extended to other cities of Pakistan for the next (2026) Hajj,” Yousaf was quoted as saying by the ministry.
He thanked the Saudi government for introducing “innovations and new facilities” every year for the convenience of Hajj pilgrims, including those from Pakistan.
“The best facilities of food, transport and accommodation are being provided to Pakistani pilgrims,” Yousaf said.
As per the Pakistani religion ministry, Al-Rabiah said the Kingdom would provide the best possible facilities to Pakistani pilgrims at Mina and Arafah.
“A large number of pilgrims come from Pakistan, it is an honor to serve them,” the Saudi minister was quoted as saying.
This year, the Hajj rituals will commence on June 4, with the Day of Arafah on June 5, and Eid Al-Adha observed on June 6 in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan on Saturday successfully concluded its 33-day pre-Hajj flight operation, with more than 115,000 pilgrims transported to Saudi Arabia ahead of this year’s pilgrimage.
Pakistan, UK agree to increase cooperation at multilateral fora
- Pakistan foreign minister speaks to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy over the phone
- Both agree to meet on sidelines of high-level UN events later this month, says state media
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his British counterpart David Lammy on Sunday agreed to enhance cooperation in multilateral fora, particularly the UN Security Council, state-run media reported.
Pakistan and the UK enjoy cordial relations. These ties have translated into the two nations harboring cooperation in military, economic, and educational sectors, with the latter hosting a large Pakistani diaspora.
The conversation between the two diplomats follows Lammy’s first official visit to Pakistan last month, where he met the country’s top officials following Pakistan’s dangerous military standoff with nuclear-armed rival India.
“They exchanged views on further enhancing bilateral cooperation in multilateral fora, particularly at the UN Security Council,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
The state media said both leaders agreed to maintain contact. They also agreed to meet on the sidelines of the high-level events scheduled to be held later this month at the United Nations, New York, the state broadcaster said.
The UK is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with China, US, Russia and France.
The Security Council seeks to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles of the UN and investigates any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction.
The UK was one of several countries actively engaged in restoring calm between India and Pakistan after the two neighbors were engaged in conflict for four days last month.
India blamed Pakistan for being involved in an April 22 attack on a tourist resort in the part of Kashmir administered by Delhi. Islamabad denied involvement and called for an international probe into the incident.
After India struck multiple Pakistani sites on May 6 with missiles, describing them as “terrorist camps,” the two sides traded missiles, artillery and drone strikes for four days before Washington brokered a ceasefire between the two on May 10.
Tensions between both nations continue to persist, with Pakistan warning it would respond to any further violations of its sovereignty by India.
Europe bristles at US proposals at Asian gathering, India-Pakistan hostility on show
- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Washington wants Europeans to concentrate on European security at summit
- India, Pakistan military delegations pointedly keep out of each other’s way in hotel corridors and meeting halls
SINGAPORE: The Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore has long been marked by US-China rivalry but Beijing’s relative retreat at the weekend exposed a new faultline — tensions between the US and Europe over Asia.
Even as he warned in a speech on Saturday that China posed an “imminent” threat, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear he wanted Europeans to concentrate on European security as they boosted military budgets.
“We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent...so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we’re able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here,” he said.
Hegseth also noted the absence of his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun, as Beijing instead dispatched a low-level team of military scholars to the annual event, which attracts top defense officials, diplomats, spies and arms dealers from across the world.
The other highlight of the event was the presence of high-powered military delegations from India and Pakistan after four days of intense clashes between the nuclear-armed neighbors that were halted by a ceasefire on May 10.
The delegations, in full uniform and bristling with medal and service ribbons, were led by India’s highest-ranking military officer and Pakistan’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. They pointedly kept out of each other’s way in the corridors and meeting halls of the sprawling Shangri-La hotel.
On engaging in Asia, at least some European nations signaled they would not be swayed by the US exhortations.
They insisted they would try to stay in both the Asian and European theaters, noting their deep links and vital trade flows as well as the global nature of conflict.
“It is a good thing we are doing more (in Europe), but what I want to stress is that the security of Europe and the security of the Pacific is very much interlinked,” said Europe’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas.
“If you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia,” Kallas said, underlining the importance of Chinese assistance to the Russian war effort in Ukraine and Moscow’s deployment of North Korean soldiers.
FRANCE’S ASIAN TIES
French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that his nation remains an Indo-Pacific power, alluding to its enduring colonial presence in New Caledonia and French Polynesia and the basing of over 8,000 soldiers across the region.
“We are neither China nor the US, we don’t want to depend on either of them,” Macron said at a press conference on Friday, outlining a “third path” coalition between Europe and Asia that avoided having to choose between Beijing and Washington.
“We want to cooperate with both as far as we can, and we can cooperate for growth and prosperity and stability for our people and the world order, and I think this is exactly the same view of a lot of countries and a lot of people of this region,” he said.
Beyond the rhetoric, regional military attaches and analysts say the European regional presence — and ambitions — may not be easy to shift.
Military deployments are mapped out over decades rather than months, and both commercial and defense relationships go back decades, some of them only rarely publicly acknowledged.
The visit of a British aircraft carrier to Singapore later this month is part of a program first mentioned by then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in 2017 to stress British support for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
The carrier visit in part reflects Britain’s commitments under the 54-year-old Five-Power Defense Arrangement that links its military with counterparts in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
British ties with Australia have been bolstered with the recent three-way AUKUS submarine and advanced technology sharing agreement struck with the US — a move that could see British submarines visiting Western Australia.
Singapore meanwhile keeps 200 personnel in France operating 12 of its light combat aircraft while Britain also has a jungle training camp and helicopters in Brunei and a 1,200-strong Gurkha battalion, according to International Institute of Strategic Studies data.
A report last month by the London-based IISS highlighted European defense firms’ long-standing and expanding defense ties to Asia, even in the face of competition, particularly from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as regional budgets rise.
“European companies, including Airbus, Damen, Naval Group and Thales, have a long-standing presence in Southeast Asia, and other European actors have established themselves in the market in the last decade, including Italy’s Fincantieri and Sweden’s Saab,” the IISS study said.
Saab is close to securing a deal with US ally Thailand to supply its Gripen fighters, beating out Lockheed Martin’s F-16s.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has reported that Asian defense spending rose 46 percent in the decade to 2024, reaching $629 billion.
For Finnish officials at least, Hegseth’s remarks resonated — it is Moscow rather than the Indo-Pacific that looms large for Helsinki given the country’s long Russian border.
“When Europe’s defense is in a good shape, then you will have resources to do something more,” Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told Reuters.
“But now all the European countries must do their main focus on European defense so that the United States can do a bigger share in the Indo-Pacific area,” Hakkanen said.
Afghanistan welcomes upgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan
- Move signals easing tensions between neighbors amid surging militancy in Pakistan
- Kabul’s FM Amir Khan Muttaqi to visit Pakistan “in coming days,” confirms Afghan official
KABUL: Afghanistan has welcomed the decision to upgrade diplomatic relations with Pakistan, where the Taliban government’s foreign minister is due to travel in the coming days, his office said on Saturday.
The move signals easing tensions between the neighboring countries, as relations between the Taliban authorities and Pakistan — already rocky — have cooled in recent months, fueled by security concerns and a campaign by Islamabad to expel tens of thousands of Afghans.
Pakistan’s top diplomat on Friday said the charge d’affaires stationed in Kabul would be elevated to the rank of ambassador, with Kabul later announcing its representative in Islamabad would also be upgraded.
“This elevation in diplomatic representation between Afghanistan & Pakistan paves the way for enhanced bilateral cooperation in multiple domains,” the Aghan foreign ministry said on X.
Kabul’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to visit Pakistan “in the coming days,” ministry spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal told AFP.
Muttaqi met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in May in Beijing as part of a trilateral meeting with their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Wang afterwards announced Kabul and Islamabad’s intention to exchange ambassadors and expressed Beijing’s willingness “to continue to assist with improving Afghanistan-Pakistan ties.”
Dar hailed the “positive trajectory” of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations on Friday, saying the upgrading of their representatives would “promote further exchanges between two fraternal countries.”
Only a handful of countries — including China — have agreed to host Taliban government ambassadors since their return to power in 2021, with no country yet formally recognizing the administration.
Russia last month said it would also accredit a Taliban government ambassador, days after removing the group’s “terrorist” designation.
