Pakistan hailed as ‘iron clad friend’ at China Party Congress

Guo was replying to a question from Pakistani media at the press conference, which is usually a scripted affair that, to some extent, reflects what the party sees as its priorities. Guo also spoke about relations with North Korea and Japan.

Guo said the party would in the next five years continue to focus on neighbourhood engagement as it was key to China’s “security”. This had been emphasised during Xi’s first term since 2012, when he noted that for the first time, the party had held a special work conference on the neighbourhood.
“China has many neighbours. We have as many as 14 land neighbours and several other neighbours on the sea. Without a good neighbourhood, we cannot have security for the country,” he said.
“That requires us both from the government and from the party, a need to pay special attention to neighbourhood diplomacy. Since the last party congress [in 2012], the Central Committee has been paying special attention to neighbourhood diplomacy.”
The CPC’s International Department plays a key role in building the party’s ties with political parties from overseas, and it is also a key body in setting China’s foreign policy priorities, which are executed by the Foreign Ministry. The CPC ID also has representatives at most major overseas embassies of China.
Guo noted that the party had “established a diversified platform for dialogue and cooperation”.
In recent years, the department has been broadening its engagement, including in India. Beyond its traditional ties with Indian Communist parties, the CPC ID has in recent years been especially increasing exchanges with the BJP, inviting party delegations and several BJP chief ministers to China. In 2015, the ID’s minister Wang Jiarui met with BJP President Amit Shah in Delhi and invited him to visit China.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Modi also visited China when he was Gujarat Chief Minister and met with CPC ID officials during his visits. Among state visits from India in recent years have included two BJP ministers – Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar – as well as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.