PAKISTAN’S PRIME MINISTER has begun a visit to China amid reports of increasing tensions between Pakistan and the United States.

The US killing of Osama bin Laden has further strained Islamabad and Washington’s ties, with China one of the only nations to stand by Pakistan in the face of growing criticism about the country’s intelligence in relation to Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts

China now in the process of shoring up its relations with Islamabad, Afghanistan and several other Central Asia states in step with an expected diminished US presence as it winds down military operations in Afghanistan, reports the AP.

For Pakistan, Beijing represents an uncritical friend ready to provide aid, investment and military assistance. To the leaders in Beijing, ties with Pakistan and other countries in its neighborhood offer a bigger diplomatic footprint, better access to resources and a larger stable of allies to challenge US dominance.

Although Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s four-day visit, starting today, was planned well in advance, it nevertheless comes at a critical time for his country’s relations with the US, which have been thrown into crisis over the American raid that killed bin Laden in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad on May 2. Pakistan has called the raid a violation of its sovereignty and threatened to retaliate if there are any similar operations in future.

While American politicians served up withering criticisms over Pakistan’s failure to find bin Laden’s hide-out — or the possibility that officials were protecting him — China offered welcome reassurance.

“The Pakistani government is firm in resolve and strong in action when it comes to counterterrorism,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters at a May 3 news conference.

Days later, Gilani made Pakistan’s appreciation clear, singling out China in a testy May 9 speech to parliament as Islamabad’s “all-weather friend.”

China’s accomplishments are a “source of inspiration and strength for the people of Pakistan,” said Gilani, who is expected to hold talks with Chinese leaders and oversee the signing of a series of agreements.

China-Pakistan ties were forged shortly after the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 and have thrived in part on both countries distrust of their mutual neighbor India.

Along with billions of dollars in investment — up to $30 billion over the next five years, according to agreements signed last year — China supports Pakistan’s nuclear power industry and sells it military hardware including surface-to-air missiles, navy frigates and fighter jets.

- AP