ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have agreed to conduct joint police and paramilitary exercises in the border region, an official statement said on Saturday, while also pledging to boost bilateral cooperation in various security fields.

Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan and China’s Xinjiang share a 600-kilometer-long border that holds strategic significance for both countries, especially in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

These areas serve as critical trade routes, fostering deeper economic ties between the two nations. However, China remains concerned about the security situation in Xinjiang, where it has been dealing with militancy, and the flow of narcotics in the region.

These issues came up for discussion during a meeting between Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Chinese Minister for Political and Legal Affairs Chen Mingguo in Islamabad.

“During the meeting, it was agreed to enhance cooperation in various fields, including counter-terrorism, cross-border cooperation, anti-smuggling, and anti-narcotics efforts,” said a statement circulated by the interior ministry said.

“It was also agreed to conduct joint police and paramilitary forces exercises in Gilgit-Baltistan or Xinjiang and train Gilgit-Baltistan police officers at the Xinjiang Police Academy,” it added.

Naqvi emphasized Pakistan wanted to completely eliminate smuggling of drugs, arms and all other goods to China.

The Chinese minister also expressed the desire to enhance relations with Pakistan in all fields, according to the interior ministry’s statement.

He also invited Naqvi to visit Xinjiang.

KARACHI: Pakistani rights activists and civil society members demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge following the killing of a man accused of blasphemy by police officials in the southern Sindh province while holding a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.
The incident happened in Pakistan’s Umerkot district where a man named Dr. Shahnawaz Kanbhar was shot dead by the police in an alleged shootout on September 19 after being accused of spreading blasphemous content on social media against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
This was the second such development since the beginning this month after a police officer killed a blasphemy suspect in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province while he was in custody.
The home minister in Sindh’s provincial administration, Zia-ul-Hasan Linjar, constituted a police inquiry committee to investigate the incident.
“We believe the accused was arrested and killed in a staged encounter [shootout],” Khizar Qazi, the head of the country’s independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Sindh, told Arab News after the news conference.
“We demand a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge and that the police officers involved be charged under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code [dealing with murder],” he added. “Justice must be served for the bereaved family.”
The government has already suspended eight low-ranking police personnel and two of their superior officials while the inquiry is being conducted.
Only a day ago, Amnesty International issued a statement against these “extrajudicial killings,” urging the Pakistani authorities to complete “a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the incidents and ensure those responsible are prosecuted in fair and transparent trials.”
It also highlighted that four people accused of blasphemy have so far been killed in the country since May 2024.
Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Pakistan, where mobs have lynched people deemed to have insulted Islam.
Amnesty International also asked Pakistani authorities to repeal the law, saying it had “long helped perpetuate discrimination and violence.”