China’s Premier Li attends a regional security meeting in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — China’s Premier Li Qiang is the most prominent leader attending this week’s meeting in Pakistan of a regional security grouping that was founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances, despite a surge in militant violence in the country.

Li arrived in Islamabad for the two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization starting Tuesday to discuss how to boost security and economic ties between the member states.

Li is the first Chinese premier to visit Pakistan in more than a decade. He arrived a week after two Chinese workers were killed and another was wounded when a suicide bomber dispatched by separatists in southwestern Balochistan province rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy outside the country’s largest airport in Karachi.

Eight Pakistani security officials were also wounded in the Oct. 6 attack. It targeted some of the thousands of Chinese working in Pakistan on projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, while separatists accuse them of plundering mineral resources.

Gunmen last week also killed 21 coal miners in the the same province, but the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army denied its involvement. Authorities said they were still trying to determine who was behind the assault.

On Monday, at least one police officer and three insurgents were killed in an attack on a police station in the district of Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. No one has claimed responsibility but the suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who often target security forces across the country.

During his three-day visit, Li will also meet with Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and senior political and military leadership.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the SCO meeting will also be attended by representatives of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It said Iran’s vice president and the Indian foreign minister would also attend.

Pakistan has increased security in the capital by deploying troops and banning rallies.

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press