Amid border row with India, Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Pakistan soon

New Delhi/Islamabad: Chinese President Xi Jinping is all set to visit Pakistan – Beijing’s all-weather ally - soon. Xi Jinping’s visit will be part of the Pakistan-China yearly high-level strategic council meeting.

The details of the visit are still being finalised and dates are also being decided. The Chinese President's visit was scheduled for earlier this year, in the month of June, but could not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will be the 2nd visit of the Chinese President outside the country amidst COVID-19 scare in 2020, the first being to Myanmar in January of this year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had last visited Pakistan in 2015 and around 51 projects were signed under the China Pakistan Economic corridor.

That was also the first state visit of the Chinese leadership to Pakistan. Both Islamabad and Beijing have close ties and have termed it as "all-weather friendship".

The visit by the Chinese President comes amidst the growing influence of Beijing in south Asia and deteriorating ties with New Delhi. 

The Chinese forces were involved in a violent face-off with the Indian forces at the Line of Actual Control or LAC in eastern Ladakh in June this year. 20 Indian soldiers died in the face-off, while the Chinese side also suffered big casualties but it never disclosed the numbers.