While high-level visits by dignitaries are the hallmark of the strong Sino-Pakistani relationship, Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Pakistan - as part of his first foreign trip after assuming office - is especially important because it takes place at a time when a new leadership is preparing to form a government in Islamabad. Li's three-day visit to India from May 19 has added another dimension to his Pakistan trip.

Reports suggest that some 12 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will be signed during Li's visit to Pakistan, bringing the number of agreements between the two sides to around 300 in almost all - political, economic and cultural - spheres of life.

In many cases, however, the implementation on MoUs has been quite slow, and one hopes that the issue will be addressed at the highest level of interaction between the two countries.

The election manifesto of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which is set to form the new government, lays emphasis on large-scale infrastructure projects, including motorways, dams, housing, development of new urban centers and cities, and exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and other minerals' to boost the economy. The manifesto outlines the involvement of the private sector, on build-own-operate/build-operate-transfer basis, for infrastructure development. And China's expertise and excellent track record make it a strong partner in cooperation in all these fields.

Considering the potential and existing level of cooperation between the two countries, a long-term comprehensive framework for collaboration, possibly with focus on some fields, over the next two to three decades could be an ideal outcome of Li's visit.

Despite the depressing global and regional economic atmosphere Sino-Pakistani economic cooperation has been going strong, and their trade volume is expected to reach $15 billion before 2015, as targeted. A number of mega projects such as the second phase of Gwadar Port and the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project are also in the pipeline. Yet the current volume of foreign direct investment, $1.37 billion a year from China into Pakistan, is much less than the potential level.

Similarly, cultural exchanges have increased in recent years with initiatives such as a youth exchange program and granting of 500 scholarships to Pakistani students by China. Li's visit is expected to play an important role in developing understanding at the highest level for exploring new avenues and further strengthening the exchanges.

The two countries have generally enjoyed a high level of mutual confidence. A 2012 Gallup report says that 67 percent Pakistanis view China as the friendliest country. In a follow-up question, 49 percent Pakistanis said they believed the United States to be Pakistan's biggest enemy, followed by India (24 percent). Debates on Pakistan's foreign and security policies during the campaigns for the recently held elections and the elections' outcome also point to this reality.

But extra-regional players and their allies in the region are covertly and overtly trying to dent the mutual confidence between China and Pakistan for their own interests. High-level interactions between China and Pakistan at this point of time send out a clear message that the bilateral bond is strong enough to respond to emerging challenges. They will also reflect the importance China attaches to Pakistan and intimate all stakeholders that the two countries agree on the developments and alignments in the region, which have long-term implications on their bilateral relationship as well as on peace and security in the region.

Do Sino-Indian rapprochement and Li's decision to visit India and Pakistan on his maiden foreign trip as premier point to any change in Sino-Pakistani relations? The answer is "no", because despite having some common denominators the dynamics of Sino-Indian and Sino-Pakistani relations have, to a large extent, become mutually exclusive in recent years. China's evolving economic relations with India has nothing to do with the factors that continue to strengthen Sino-Pakistani ties.

Apart from political and strategic cooperation, China and Pakistan offer considerable economic opportunities to each other. China's cooperation with Pakistan on Gwadar Port - which provides China access to the Gulf besides offering landlocked Central Asian countries a route to the Arabian Sea - is one such example. It also reflects the immense technical assistance Beijing offers to Islamabad and shows Pakistan's significance as an energy corridor for the world's second-largest consumer of oil.

The growing role of the US, with its leaning towards India and vice-versa, in the region is supposed to be a source of concern for China, not only for its own interest but also in the interests of the whole region. Moreover, the recent border standoff between India and China, though resolved, is also an indication of the ups and downs in Sino-Indian relations. In contrast, Sino-Pakistani relations have progressed smoothly on the basis of mutual trust, signifying their "all-weather friendship".

The author is director general of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan.

(China Daily 05/22/2013 page9)