By Asif Shahzad and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan’s capital was under strict security lockdown as Chinese Premier Li Qiang landed in the city on Monday ahead of a heads-of-government gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation this week.
Li’s visit is the first by a Chinese premier to Pakistan in 11 years, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office said. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Li at the airport.
The government has announced a three-day public holiday in Islamabad, with schools and businesses shut and large contingents of police and paramilitary forces deployed.
Pakistan army troops will be responsible for the security of the capital’s Red Zone, the location of the parliament and a diplomatic enclave and where most of the meetings will take place, according to the interior ministry.
The threat alert has been high in the South Asian nation ahead of the SCO summit, especially after the killing of two Chinese engineers and shooting deaths of 21 miners last week.
Another attack in northwest Pakistan killed five Chinese engineers in March.
Security for Chinese nationals has been enhanced, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Monday, adding that Sharif took a “deep, keen, personal focus” on their security.
“I believe that (the) Chinese premier’s visit will be a landmark visit,” he said, terming it a “turning point in our relationship.”
He said a high-level investigation is taking place into the recent attacks on Chinese nationals and added that, “I think our Chinese friends are also somewhat satisfied on the keen interest we are taking and the special focus we have placed on security.”
As Li landed, Islamist militants attacked a police headquarters in a northwestern Pakistani district, killing three police officers, officials said.
The Islamists, from an umbrella group of several militant groups called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. They have always disassociated themselves from any attacks on Chinese nationals, although Pakistani authorities convicted some of its members for a 2021 suicide bombing that killed nine Chinese engineers.
Most attacks on Chinese nationals have been carried out by separatist ethnic Baloch militants based in the southwestern province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
CURBS
Tensions have risen after jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan called for a protest on Oct. 15 to press for his release and agitate against the coalition government, following violent clashes between his party loyalists and security forces.
Islamabad has sought to curb all movement of Chinese nationals in the city, citing fears they could be targets for violence from separatist militants.
The 23rd meeting of the SCO, which comprises nine full members including China, India, Iran and Russia, is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Islamabad.
As well as attending the SCO summit, Prime Minister Li is also undertaking a four-day bilateral visit to Pakistan from Monday to Thursday, accompanied by senior officials, Pakistan’s foreign office said.
Li and Sharif will discuss economic and trade ties and cooperation under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment in the South Asian country under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Li will also inaugurate the CPEC-funded Gwadar International Airport in restive southwestern Balochistan province, the Pakistani prime minister’s office said.
SCO participants will be represented by the prime ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the first vice president of Iran and external affairs minister of India, the foreign office said.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Stephen Coates, Alex Richardson, Sharon Singleton, William Maclean)
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