Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistan-China friendship and strategic cooperative partnership was an indispensable and critical factor in ensuring regional and global peace and security. “Geography and history and, above all, the pure and true sentiments of friendship and brotherhood between our peoples impel us to march forward, together, to realise a glorious future for China, Pakistan and Asia as a whole,” he stressed.
The prime minister was speaking at a reception to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China jointly hosted by the embassy of Pakistan in Beijing and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPPCC) on Thursday. Gilani called the commemoration “a moment to renew our common resolve to impart a new dynamism to take our all-weather friendship and strategic cooperative partnership to ever new heights.”
The prime minister said successive generations of leaders of both countries and millions of men, women and young people had shaped the discourse and the reality of this abiding friendship between our peoples, which was manifested in abundant goodwill, spontaneous affinity, inestimable love and affection, an enduring romance that transcends all other considerations. Gilani recalled that Premier Wen Jiabao in his address to the joint sitting of parliament in Islamabad in December 2010, stated that “this friendship is in our blood”.
“The people of Pakistan feel the same”, he said, adding that “China is, indeed, our true and most reliable friend and partner. We are like one nation and two countries”. “Once again, in these troubled times, we collectively face new challenges with the firm conviction in our belief that truth and justice will prevail,” he said, adding that the only voice of reason in international affairs in these turbulent times was that of China.
The prime minister also called on Chinese firms to invest in Pakistan’s energy sector, in a bid to boost a moribund economy hit by massive floods last year and weak Western investment. “There is great potential for the participation of Chinese corporations in the development of the energy sector in Pakistan. This includes hydro, thermal and renewable,” Gilani told a joint business forum in Beijing. “Joint ventures, with equity participation of Chinese corporations and financial institutions, can transform Pakistan’s economic landscape and would certainly prove to be a win-win scenario,” the visiting prime minister said.
“I would urge Chinese corporations to focus on Pakistan in their strategic business plans.” Meanwhile, the EXIM Bank of China expressed its readiness to finance Karachi-Faisalabad-Gwadar Motorway and will soon send a team of experts to Pakistan for feasibility study of the project. The assurance came during a meeting between EXIM Bank Chairman Li Ruogu and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
