By Ankit Panda
Xi Jinping and Mamnoon Hussain vowed to fight terrorism together. Will they succeed?
As China reeled from the impact of Thursday morning’s brutal bombing in an open market in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, President Xi Jinping met with Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain, shortly after the conclusion of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). While Xi used the multilateral forum to call for the creation of a “new regional security cooperation architecture” for Asia, one that did not rely upon alliances with external partners such as the United States, he also took the bilateral opportunity with Pakistan’s president to discuss ways in which the two countries can combat terrorism.
According to Xinhua, the leaders agreed to ” strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts.” According to Xi, “China backs Pakistan in practicing a counter-terrorism strategy based on its national conditions and is willing to enhance bilateral security cooperation to safeguard the peace and stability of the two countries and the region.” In return, Hussain acknowledged China’s concern in particular about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and called the group a “common enemy” of both China and Pakistan. He additionally pledged to “ensure the safety” of Chinese citizens within Pakistan.
Read the full story at The Diplomat