China-Pakistan mark 50 years

Pakistani gardeners at the presidential house tidy up ahead of Zhu's visit

In this story: India-Pakistan tensions Commercial ties Missile technology RELATED STORIES

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's military ruler has said he is keen to strengthen ties with ally China ahead of a visit by the Chinese premier.

Pervez Musharraf's comments came as premier Zhu Rongji was due to arrive in Islamabad on Friday at the start of an 11-day Asian trip.

Zhu's visit marks the fiftieth year of diplomatic relations between the two countries, a relationship seen as important for countering India-Russia ties and more recently India's burgeoning ties with the United States.

Musharraf said on state television he had "full confidence that whatever changes, regional or international changes, take place, the relationship between Pakistan and China will remain constant and will keep strengthening".

Zhu Rongji's portrait has been erected in front of the presidential house building in Islamabad and the city has been decorated with the national flags of China and Pakistan.

India-Pakistan tensions

China and Pakistan have been close allies since the early 1960s but Islamabad has sometimes felt uneasy at Beijing's efforts to mend fences with India, Pakistan's arch-rival.

Beijing has consistently assured Islamabad any improvement of its relations with India would not be at Pakistan's expense.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.Two of the wars have been over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

Musharraf said "if you see the past history of Pakistan-China relations over the past 50 years, there have been major geopolitical and geostrategic changes in the world, but one can say with full satisfaction that Pakistan-China relations never changed".

"They remained constant, they kept improving, they kept strengthening."

Commercial ties

Economic ties are likely to top the agenda between the two countries.

"I would try my best to develop economic and commercial bonds between China and Pakistan, and we will utilize premier Zhu Rongji's visit toward this end," Musharraf said.

Islamabad is pushing ahead with a number of projects that China could be involved in. They include building reservoirs, developing a new port on the Arabian Sea, and building a coastal highway.

Pakistan is also looking to collaborate with China in science and technology, small and medium industry and also in military equipment production.

Missile technology

In November, the United States waived sanctions against China, imposed over suspected sales of nuclear-capable missile technology to Pakistan and Iran, in return for a Chinese pledge to step up its curbs on sensitive exports.

China has said it would abide by its commitments on military cooperation.

"As far as our relationship with Pakistan is concerned, we do not link it with our relations with other countries," a ranking Chinese Foreign Ministry official said.

Zhu leaves Pakistan for Nepal Monday, goes on to the Maldives on May 16 and Sri Lanka on May 17 and completes his trip in Thailand from May 19 to 22.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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