China on Tuesday paid tributes to out-going Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali for his contribution towards further consolidating the China-Pakistan friendship.
"We appreciate the efforts made by Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in improving China-Pakistan friendship," said Zhang Qiyue, a spokeswoman of Chinese foreign office while talking to APP in Beijing.
She noted Jamali, during his tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan visited China twice and he was also the first foreign dignitary who came to Beijing after transfer of power to new Chinese leadership in March last year.
Jamali, Zhang added made his good efforts to strengthen the existing decades old partnership.
Commenting on the change of government in Pakistan, she said, "It is an internal matter of Pakistan." However, she added the friendship of the two countries is so strong and deep-rooted, that it could not be affected by the change of government."
We believe whosoever, comes as Prime Minister in Pakistan, their bilateral relations would continue to grow in all areas of bilateral interest," she added.
Earlier, at a weekly news briefing, the spokeswoman said China is glad to see improvement of Pakistan-India relations. She noted that the two countries held successful talks at the secretaries' level in New Delhi.
"We are confident that they would succeed to settle their bilateral disputes in a peaceful manner, through the process of dialogue,"
She said adding, "We appreciate the strong resolve and commitment shown by the leadership of the two countries towards peaceful settlement of their bilateral disputes."
China hopes that the normalisation of relations between Pakistan, India will bring peace, stability and development in South Asia.
INDO-PAK DIALOGUE: China on Tuesday welcomed renewed dialogue between its nuclear neighbours India and Pakistan on Kashmir, calling the talks an important step toward peace and stability in South Asia.
"We have taken note of the dialogue between India and Pakistan at the level of foreign secretary to further improve the bilateral relations. This is a very important step for the overall dialogue between the two sides," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.
"We sincerely hope that the two sides will continue to promote the process of all-around dialogue to improve their relationship and solve their disputes and the problem they are confronted with so as to be jointly committed to peace and stability in South Asia."
India and Pakistan agreed on Monday to strive for a final settlement to their 56-year-old dispute over Kashmir and to reopen consulates in their largest cities in the latest step to repair ties. In their first talks in three years on Kashmir, the two sides issued a joint statement pledging to "continue the sustained and serious dialogue to find a peaceful and negotiated final settlement" on the dispute.