Pakistan and China commemorated seventy-five years of diplomatic relations two days ago. The Prime Minister of Pakistan embarks on a four-day visit to China today, marking another milestone in their enduring partnership. This recalls the historic opening of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to the public in 1986, a project that began preliminary work in 1959. A formal Sino-Pakistani agreement was signed in 1966, bringing Chinese engineers and laborers into the project, which was completed by the late 1970s. By the time the KKH opened, two decades of dedicated effort had been invested.
To celebrate this achievement, PTV and CCTV co-produced a television drama titled Rishtay aur Raastay (Bonds and Roads), written by the late Taj Haider. The drama depicted three generations working on the KKH and the growing relationship between Pakistan and China. The author recalls being a ten-year-old captivated by the series, especially the tribute to workers who lost their lives during construction. Forty years later, this middle-aged man takes pride in a relationship that has only strengthened over time.
Foundations of Friendship
The roots of this partnership extend far back. Pakistan recognized the People's Republic of China on 4 January 1950, shortly after its own creation, and formal diplomatic ties were established on 21 May 1951. In April 1955, at the Bandung Conference, Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra held two meetings with Premier Zhou Enlai, assuring him that Pakistan's alliances were not directed against China. Bogra, a key figure in Pakistan's foreign policy and its entry into SEATO, publicly supported China's UN seat. This demonstrated that the China policy was a bipartisan consensus, not a factional project.
In October 1956, Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy became the first Pakistani premier to visit China, followed by Zhou Enlai's first visit to Pakistan in December 1956. After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, ties deepened. Border talks began in October 1962, and on 2 March 1963, the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement was signed in Peking by Foreign Ministers Chen Yi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with Zhou Enlai present. This was the first formal border settlement either country reached with a neighbor.
In 1964, PIA launched flights to Beijing, becoming the first non-communist airline to do so. Zhou Enlai visited again in February, and President Ayub Khan traveled to China in December. During the 1965 war, China openly backed Pakistan, warned India on the Sikkim border, and supplied arms, cementing public goodwill in Pakistan.
Key Milestones
In 1966, an agreement was signed for joint construction of the Karakoram Highway. In August 1969, President Nixon met General Yahya Khan, asking Pakistan to convey Washington's desire to open contacts with Beijing. This led to two years of back-channel diplomacy, culminating in Henry Kissinger's secret flight from near Islamabad to Beijing from 8 to 11 July 1971, where he met Zhou Enlai for forty-eight hours. Nixon's visit to China followed in February 1972. On 25 October 1971, the People's Republic took China's UN seat under Resolution 2758, after years of Pakistani support.
Bhutto visited Beijing in 1972 and again in 1976, meeting Mao Zedong in one of his last receptions of a foreign leader. In 1986, the KKH opened to the public, and a civil nuclear cooperation agreement was signed, leading to the Chashma projects. In 1995, Benazir Bhutto attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. In December 1996, President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to Pakistan, outlining China's South Asia policy. In 1999, the JF-17 contract was signed, building on a 1995 framework.
Premier Zhu Rongji visited in May 2001 to mark fifty years of ties. Gwadar Port broke ground in March 2002 with Chinese finance and engineers. On 5 April 2005, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Premier Wen Jiabao signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good-Neighbourly Relations, China's first such treaty with any country. President Hu Jintao visited in November 2006, and the Free Trade Agreement was signed. In 2010, the JF-17 Thunder entered PAF frontline service. In February 2013, Gwadar Port was handed to China Overseas Port Holding Company. In May, Premier Li Keqiang proposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and in July, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed the CPEC MoU.
President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan on 20-21 April 2015, signing fifty-one agreements worth about $46 billion, formally launching CPEC. Xi was awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif attended the first Belt and Road Forum in May 2017. In 2018, Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 was launched. Prime Minister Imran Khan made his first state visit to China in November, and CPEC entered its second phase. President Arif Alvi visited Beijing in March 2020 as an early gesture of solidarity during COVID-19. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Beijing in November 2022, again in June 2024, and attended the SCO summit in Tianjin in September 2025.
Looking Ahead
Today, the Pakistani labor of love stands vindicated. The two young states that found each other seventy-five years ago have built an unbreakable bond. Bogra's mission continues, as last year during a visit to Shanghai, Indian propaganda efforts were noted but ineffective. The relationship will keep strengthening. As the author argues, two forces shape human destiny: AI and China. Any nation that aligns its policy with these facts holds the key to the future.
