China, Pakistan should deepen practical cooperation across all domains: Pakistani defense official

China and Pakistan, sharing ironclad friendship, should deepen practical cooperation across all domains, Defense Secretary of Pakistan Muhammad Ali said in Beijing.

Speaking in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) on the sidelines of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, Ali praised the forum as an exceptional platform for advancing security cooperation.

"It provides a great opportunity for advancing the cooperative approaches towards security. And it's a brilliant forum," said Ali.

On the bilateral relations, the Pakistani defense official said that China and Pakistan enjoy the deep historical roots of military cooperation.

Joint military exercises between the two countries' ground, navies, and air forces have become flagship cooperative projects in recent years.

"As we know that Pakistan and China, we are all-weather friends, and it's a relationship which is termed as the ironclad relationship. As we used to call it deeper than the ocean and higher than in the mountains in the Himalayas. I think, especially in the field of military cooperation, I think the relationship has been very deep rooted, very historical, a hard core military cooperation of course," said Ali.

Ali also said that the cooperation between the two countries should expand to more areas.

"There is now a time where I believe that the cooperation needs to move towards technology, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and other domains. And China, as we understand, China is leading the globe actually in artificial intelligence. And I think China can really help us that way in technology, artificial intelligence and many other domains," said Ali.

Ali also commended China's constructive geopolitical role, saying that China has consistently remained at the forefront of resolving regional and international disputes.

"China has been, politically and militarily, always at the forefront of resolving the disputes. While China is a very strong country militarily and of course politically, I think China has never forced resolutions. China has been encouraging different regional countries to resolve and helping them to get the issue resolved. Same is the case with the China and Pakistan," said Ali.

Under the theme of "Build Consensus on Stability, Advance Security Governance Together," the three-day forum opened in the Chinese capital on Tuesday, bringing together delegations from almost 100 countries, regions and international organizations.

The forum this year focuses on the prominent and pressing major challenges currently facing the international security landscape.

China, Pakistan should deepen practical cooperation across all domains: Pakistani defense official

Asian security has emerged as a key focus at the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, with attendees from various countries and regions stressing dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation as the foundation for sustainable regional stability.

The forum, a key platform for international security and defense dialogue, was held in the Chinese capital from Tuesday to Thursday, under the theme of "Build Consensus on Stability, Advance Security Governance Together."

In recent years, security dynamics in Asia have drawn growing attention. A major consensus at the forum is the need to extend mutual political trust into multi-layered dialogue mechanisms to shape the region's long-term trajectory.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama underscored that Asia's development has been achieved through cooperation rather than confrontation.

"Asia has achieved its development through cooperation rather than confrontation. To maintain peace and stability in Asia, we need to continue multilateral, multi-layered dialogue, including not only dialogue among governments but also military crisis management mechanisms and people-to-people exchange. I believe that dialogue rather than confrontation, and cooperation rather than division, is the path Asia should follow," he said at the forum.

Addressing the diverse security concerns of Asian countries, experts highlighted the importance of enhancing mutual understanding and identifying shared interests to achieve common security.

Shaftdean Lufty, senior director of Comprehensive Security at the Malaysian Institute of Defense and Security, stressed the value of open and personal communication.

"It's like having some sort of personal touch. I would bring this analogy of having a good friend that you can have good communication to interact and in order to get the better understanding among each other," said Lufty.

Duong Quy Nam, director of Vietnam's Institute for Defense International Relations, emphasized that true security cannot come at others' expense.

"We believe that the security of one country should not build upon the insecurity of another. Sustainable security must be built through dialogue, thus respect for each other's legitimate interests and international law," said Nam.

Beijing Xiangshan Forum underscores dialogue, cooperation for Asian security