Boao, China:

Pakistan and China’s discussions on security measures to protect Chinese citizens working in the South Asian country are an ongoing work, Islamabad’s ambassador to Beijing said Wednesday.

It is Pakistan’s “national responsibility” and the country “does everything possible,” Ambassador Khalil Hashmi told journalists on the sidelines of the Boao forum in China’s Hainan Province.

“I think our two countries are working very closely in terms of sharing information in terms of the development of the standard procedures” to ensure that Chinese citizens working in Pakistan are safe, he said. “We keep our Chinese friends informed about the steps we take, so it’s an ongoing job.”

Beijing has pushed Islamabad to allow his own security personnel to provide protection to thousands of Chinese citizens working there, frustrated with the attacking string of his citizens. Push came after a bombing in Karachi airport last October killed two Chinese engineers who returned there to work at a power plant.

Hashmi said these conversations are ongoing with a high degree of trust between both countries. “It’s a complex security environment,” he said, “We have the ability to solve, counter and fight and defeat these terrorist forces.”