Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will travel to China on Thursday, his first trip abroad since a new government packed with his opponents was sworn in late last month. Musharraf, who came to power as a general following a coup in 1999, is politically isolated since the defeat of his allies in the Feb. 18 polls. Musharraf is due to meet President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other Chinese state leaders during his visit from April 10 to 15 to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said. "The President's visit will reinforce the all-weather, time-tested friendship between the two countries. Agreements in economic areas are also likely to be signed," he said on Tuesday. The longstanding friendship with China is often contrasted with the on-off relationship Pakistani governments have experienced with the United States. One of the principal drivers in the relationship between Islamic Pakistan and communist China is mutual desire for a counterweight against neighbouring India. China is a major arms supplier to Pakistan. On Monday, a Shanghai shipyard launched the first of four F-22P frigates to be delivered to Pakistan. The fourth and last vessel will be completed at a Karachi shipyard in 2013. The Pakistan Air Force has inducted into its fleet a fighter aircraft, called JF-17 Thunder, that is co-produced with China. China has also helped Pakistan build civil nuclear plants, but Beijing has been unable to respond to requests from Islamabad for more as China is facing domestic demands to increase capacity, according to analysts. Pakistan and China signed a free trade pact in 2006 and hope to raise two-way trade to $15 billion within the next five years. Musharraf will wind up his visit in Urumqi, the capital of the western province of Xinjiang, where militant Uighurs have agitated for an independent 'East Turkestan'. China is concerned that the militants have forged links with Islamist fighters based in Pakistan.
