Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain has chosen China for his first official overseas visit since taking office in September last year. During the three day tour from Feb. 18-20, the Pakistani leader will meet President Xi Jinping for a summit level interaction. Various economic, political and strategic issues will come up for discussion at the crucial meeting. He will also meet Premier Li Keqiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhang Dejiang. He is also scheduled to have meetings with some other senior Chinese officials and functionaries.

Hussain is the first foreign leader to visit China and meet its leadership after the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Horse. His visit is part of regular bilateral high level discussions to deepen the China-Pakistan relationship, which is based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other's affairs. Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the new Chinese government in January 1950, soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The two sides established diplomatic ties in May 1951 and since then the relationship has been growing. The first major hallmark of the ties was a peaceful settlement of the China - Pakistan boundary in 1963, after China and India fought a border war in 1962.

The political and military leaders of the two countries have been paying frequent visits to each other. Last year, Premier Li Keqiang was in Pakistan. Soon after his visit, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Beijing. It was Sharif's first international outing after winning the elections in May last year. The visit was a marked departure from the previous practice of new Pakistani leaders, who used to visit Saudi Arabia to pray at Makkah and Madina where the two holy mosques of Islam are located. Both Sharif and Hussain have set a new tradition by visiting China, which shows the eagerness of Islamabad to cultivate deeper links.

Over the past few decades, one of the downsides in the relations between China and Pakistan has been that despite having a close political understanding, the two sides were not able to exploit their potential for economic cooperation. It was rightly felt that their economic ties did not reflect the political warmth of relations. But things have been changing over the last few years. Pakistan has been making serious efforts to promote economic and commercial links using Chinese capital, expertise and goodwill.

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