PM Khan assures Chinese counterpart about thorough investigation in Dasu incident

Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured Chinese Premier Li Keqiang of making every effort into the Dasu bus incident, in which 12 people were killed, including nine Chinese nationals, reports Geo News.

In a telephonic conversation, PM Khan offered his condolences over the death of the Chinese nationals.

“All efforts will be made to investigate the incident,” PM said.

He further added that the security and protection of Chinese citizens in Pakistan is the government’s top priority.

Beijing, meanwhile, reacted sharply to the incident by postponing a meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) scheduled for Friday. The meeting was to be held through a video link, reported Dawn.

CPEC Authority Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Asim Bajwa announced the postponement of the meeting on Twitter. “JCC-10 meeting on #CPEC which was scheduled to be held on 16th July 21, has been postponed to a later date after Eid. The fresh date will be shared as finalized. Meanwhile, preparations continue,” he said.

JCC-10 meeting on #CPEC which was scheduled to be held on 16th July 21, has been postponed to a later date after Eid. Fresh date will be shared as finalised. Meanwhile preparations continue

— Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimSBajwa) July 15, 2021

On Thursday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter and said, “Initial investigations into Dassu incident have now confirmed traces of explosives, terrorism cannot be ruled out,” contradicting the statement by his party’s Foreign Minister.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally supervising all developments, in this regard Govt is in close coordination with the Chinese embassy we are committed to fighting the menace of terrorism together,” tweeted Fawad.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan, had expressed sincere condolences to the Chinese side over the heavy Chinese casualties. He said that the preliminary investigation shows that the incident was “an accident and no background of terrorist attacks has been found”.