Qureshi will be accompanied by a team of diplomats including foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, people familiar with the development said. PM Imran Khan had underscored the importance of ties with China this week when he, in a television interview, insisted that reports about breakdown in relations with Saudi Arabia were “baseless”. On China, PM Khan said, Pakistan was strengthening ties with China. “It should be clear that our future is connected with China… China also needs Pakistan very much,” he said. Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa made a quick visit to Saudi Arabia this week in an effort to smooth relations between Islamabad and Riyadh.

Source: Hindustan Times August 20, 2020 08:21 UTC