Chinese President tour to Pakistan postponed, confirms FO

Spokesman of Foreign Office Tasneem Aslam, in a press briefing, said that the tour was delayed after mutual consultation of the two countries.

“Pakistan and China both consider the tour very important. The friendship of the two countries have successfully faced all hurdles”, Aslam said.

The new date of the tour of the Chinese leader will be announced soon.

It should be noted that President Xi Jinping was expected to tour Pakistan at the end of September.

The ruling party Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) had blamed the sit-ins, carried out by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Red Zone area of the federal capital, for the delay of the important tour.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had claimed that the Chinese President was going to bring investments worth $34 billion into the country.

The postponement of the tour has also been severely criticized during the joint session of the parliament as well.

PTI leader Imran Khan, in response, claimed that the government itself was responsible as it had placed containers across Islamabad.