ISLAMABAD: Accorded an unprecedented welcome to the Parliament House for an address, the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was praised by all and sundry on Sunday.
A wide majority of the parliamentarian showed up for the address, which was organized amidst foolproof security, and the hall was packed before the arrival of the guest.
Members of all political parties stood side by side, forgetting all their differences, to show appreciation and regard for the premier of the country that has stood beside Pakistan through thick and thin.
All the services chiefs, Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Owais Ahmed Ghani, president and prime Minister AJK and Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan Mehdi Shah observed the proceedings from the Speaker’s gallery while the absence of Pakistan Muslim Leauge-Nawaz group’s Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Main Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister Khyber-Pakhutunkhwa and Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad was widely noted.
The Chinese Premier was accorded a standing ovation and an enthusiastic desk-thumping when he entered the hall. National anthems of Pakistan and China were played and the members of the Chinese delegation were seated in the PM’s gallery.
The hall reverberated with the slogan of “Long live Pak-China friendship” during the speech of PM Wen Jiabao.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza also addressed the occasion. The Chinese premier also shook hands with MPs sitting in the first row, met the governors and chief ministers and those sitting in the press gallery. At the end he raised both his arms in an arc to express solidarity with the Pakistani nation.
