China plans to send an astronaut from its all-weather ally Pakistan as the first foreign guest to its space station Tiangong.

China and Pakistan on Friday signed an agreement including bilateral efforts to select and train Pakistani astronauts and then send some of them to Tiangong, currently orbiting 400 kilometres above the earth, China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a news release here.

The agreement to send the Pakistani astronaut into space was signed by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) and Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) at a ceremony attended by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, state-run China Daily reported.

China has been launching satellites for Pakistan for the past few years to help its close ally.

The Chinese space station, which has been in orbit for nearly four years, is regarded as a rival to Russia’s international space station Mir, currently in orbit.

China built Tiangong after the country was reportedly excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) over concerns that China’s space programme is manned by its military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

China’s space station is also seen as a new field of competition between China and the US.

The two robotic arms of the station, especially the long one which has the ability to grab objects including satellites from space, drew international concerns.

China has earlier announced plans for the further development of space programmes, which included launching a manned lunar mission, construction of a lunar space station, exploration of habitable planets and extra-terrestrial life to expand its space programme in the next few decades.

Deputy Director of the Chinese Manned Space Agency Lin Xiqiang told media here earlier that China plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030 while the US plans to put its astronauts back on the lunar surface in 2025.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)