China, Pakistan to back each other’s ‘core interests’ at UN

In a joint statement, the two countries said they would “firmly safeguard multilateralism and support the central role of the United Nations in international affairs.”

China and Pakistan have pledged to back each other’s “core and major interests” in the United Nations after holding bilateral consultations on UN affairs. Both countries, which describe their relationship officially as one of “all-weather partners” and “iron brothers”, have in recent months stepped in to provide crucial support to the other on issues they see as sensitive, with Beijing raising the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council and Islamabad backing China on Hong Kong and Xinjiang. The two sides on Thursday held the third round of consultations on UN affairs virtually, led by Yang Tao, Director-General of the Department of International Organisations and Conferences of China’s Foreign Ministry, and Usman Iqbal Jadoon, Director-General (United Nations) of Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, and with their permanent missions to the UN in New York and Geneva also participating.