Islamabad: As the United States President Donald Trump has landed for his maiden visit to India, Pakistan is expecting a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, reported a Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune. The date of the visit is yet to be finalised added the report. The paper, however, has not revealed the source of the information and neither the Pakistan government or China has confirmed President Xi's visit to Pakistan. The report has said that the visit comes for a reason to bolster ties between Pakistan and its all-weather friend China as the dragon nation is grappling with concerns such as Coronavirus outbreak. The issue of the development of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be one of the prime topics on the table for the Imran Khan government to discuss.
China has been the biggest supporter of Pakistan on the international stage be it economic front or strategic affairs. Beijing had launched an ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor under President Xi Jinping's pet project – the Belt and Road Initiative. CPEC has been a bone of contention between China and India as the CPEC passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. New Delhi has not taken part in any of the infrastructure mega-deals with China.
On February 21, Pakistan was let off by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and was retained in the 'grey list'. The Paris-based watchdog that oversees terrorist funding was chaired by China in its plenary summit this time and it made life easier for the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government. However, the FATF didn't back down from issuing a stern warning to Islamabad to comply with the 27-action plan it had earlier committed to fulfilling.
The body that comprises of 39 nations found the measures taken by Islamabad as ineffective against terror financing and money laundering. Pakistan is set to be in the 'grey list' at least till the time FATF will meet for its next plenary in June later this year. On the 27- point action plan, the anti-money laundering watchdog had found out that Pakistan was fully compliant on 14 metrics, whereas it could not effectively implement another 11 action plan. One other two parameters, Islamabad was not at all compliant and hence was retained in the 'grey list.'
