Terrorists will fail in nefarious attempts to malign Pak-China relations: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday “strongly condemned the firing incident outside the Consulate of China in Karachi” earlier today.

“The prime minister has ordered a complete inquiry into the incident and has desired that elements behind this incident must be unearthed. [The] incident is part of conspiracy against Pak and China economic and strategic cooperation,” said the PM’s statement after security forces foiled a terror attack targeting the Chinese Consulate in Karachi today.

“However, such incidents will never be able to undermine Pak-China relationship that is mightier than Himalaya and deeper than Arabian sea.

“Karachi police and Rangers have shown exceptional courage and nation salutes the martyrs and their colleagues for acting so vigilantly, their gallantry is something we are proud of.”

While speaking to the media, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry echoed the sentiment of PM Khan and said that the attack was part of a bigger conspiracy.

“This attack was targeted, Pakistan and China’s economic, defence and strategic ties have been targeted.”

Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also stressed on the strong ties between the two countries. “Pakistan and China will defeat the forces that wish to halt development [in the country]”.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the foreign minister said that the attack on the Chinese Consulate was contained successfully by law enforcement agencies. “We have provided our embassy in Beijing with all the updates. As soon as China’s foreign minister is available on the phone, I will personally inform him of the whole situation.

“All Chinese Consulate staff remained safe during the attack,” he said, adding that he would share more details as to who was behind the attack once “additional information comes forth”.

“The good news is that all our Chinese friends and those officials who work at the consulate — around 21 people — are all safe and they have been shifted to a safe place.”