ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will attend the Winter Olympics opening ceremony during his visit to China from February 3-5, according to the Foreign Office.

Speaking at a weekly news briefing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed stated that during the prime minister’s visit, officials from Islamabad and Beijing would discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), among other things.

The presence of Pakistan’s prime minister will be significant, given some big western countries have decided to boycott the mega event, which will begin on February 4.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada have all launched diplomatic boycotts of the event, with North Korea being the most recent to withdraw due to the pandemic.

Despite the fact that athletes from all over the world will compete in the four-yearly event, no dignitaries from these western nations are expected to attend.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), has also called for a diplomatic boycott of Beijing, claiming that the next Winter Olympics will be used to “sports wash” and gloss over the country’s “horrible” human rights record.

HRW “has always been full of prejudice,” China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.