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‘Terror attacks can’t undermine Pak-China ties’: Imran Khan orders probe

China, one of Pakistan’s closest allies, has poured billions into the South Asian country in recent years as part of a massive infrastructure project that seeks to connect its western province Xinjiang with the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

‘Terror attacks can’t undermine Pak-China ties’: Imran Khan orders probe

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (File Photo: AFP)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday strongly condemned the terrorist attacks on the Chinese consulate in Karachi and the Orakzai blast in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

He said the attacks will never be able to undermine Pakistan-China relationship.

“The failed attack against the Chinese Consulate was clearly a reaction to the unprecedented trade agreements that resulted from our trip to China. The attack was intended to scare Chinese investors and undermine CPEC. These terrorists will not succeed,” Khan said.

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The Pakistan PM further said that both the attacks were part of a planned campaign to create unrest in the country by those who do not want Pakistan to prosper.

“Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind that we will crush the terrorists, whatever it takes,” he added.

Imran Khan also paid tribute to the victims of both the terror attacks.

Meanwhile, the prime minister’s office said in a statement that Imran Khan has ordered a complete inquiry into the Chinese consulate attack and has desired that elements behind the incident must be unearthed.

Earlier in the day, at least two policemen were killed when unidentified gunmen stormed the Chinese consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. Three terrorists were neutralised after an exchange of fire with security personnel.

Read | 2 cops killed as gunmen storm Chinese consulate in Karachi; India condemns attack

The attack was claimed by a separatist terrorist group from Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, which is at the centre of a major Chinese investment project in the country.

China, one of Pakistan’s closest allies, has poured billions into the South Asian country in recent years as part of a massive infrastructure project that seeks to connect its western province Xinjiang with the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

The project, the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’, is one of the largest projects in Beijing’s “One Belt One Road” initiative, comprising a network of roads and sea routes involving 65 countries.

Read | 25 killed, 35 injured as powerful blast rips through market in Pak’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Later in the day, a powerful bomb blast ripped through a busy market outside a religious seminary in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, killing at least 25 people and injuring over 35 others.

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