Beijing eyes ‘concrete co-op’ with Dhaka, Islamabad: China envoy

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen yesterday said Beijing is working with Dhaka and Islamabad to implement the consensus reached during an informal meeting held recently among the three countries.

He said the meeting was an attempt to foster "concrete cooperation" among the countries in specific areas.

"We have already identified 12 areas for concrete cooperation, including industry, trade, education, environmental protection, and water resources… We are following up on the consensus and working with Bangladesh and Pakistan to implement those," he told reporters after attending a seminar in the capital.

Bangladesh, China and Pakistan held the meeting on the sidelines of the 9th China-South Asia Exposition and the 6th China-South Asia Cooperation meeting in Kunming on June 19.

Yao said the outcome of the meeting, if implemented, would improve economic development and livelihoods of all the countries involved. "We are in a very critical moment. There are lots of things we can work on together. I see this for the common interests of the three countries," said the Chinese ambassador.

"Our cooperation is based on mutual trust. It is an open and transparent process. It does not target any third country. That is the message to convey," said Ambassador Yao.

On June 26, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said the meeting was an informal one and did not aim at alliance building.

Referring to India, he also said the meeting did not target any third country.

"We are not forming any alliance. It was a meeting at the official level, not at the political level…," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while responding to a question last month.