Pakistan and China on Wednesday signed 20 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth $2 billion as the two-day historic moot of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Karamay-Xinjiang Forum ended with the Karamay declaration, focusing on increased cooperation between the two friendly countries in diversified fields.
The MoUs were signed in sectors of energy, communication, social services, agriculture, health, education, road infrastructures etc at the auspicious Karamay Government Municipal Auditorium. A consortium of 35 Chinese companies was also formed which would invest in Pakistan pushing forward CPEC.
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Senator Hasil Bizenjo, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Senator Nuzhat Saddiq, Senator Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi, Minister for Planning and Development Baluchistan Hamid Khan Achakzai, Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khalid and high ranking officials of the delegations witnessed the signing ceremony. Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong also attended the concluding session and termed the meeting highly successful in furthering the Sino-Pak ties to new height through CPEC.
Present on the occasion were DG FWO Major General Muhammad Afzal, Khalid Asghar Engineer in Chief FWO, Major General Javed Mehmood Bukhari, Quartermaster General, Major General Muhstaq Ahmed Faisal, DG NLC, and other high ranking officials of the Pakistan government.
Just before the passage of the Karamay declaration, from Pakistan side Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed Chairman Senate Committee on Defence and Defence Production, and from China side Madam Baige Zaho, member NPC Standing Committee, Vice Chairman NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, gave a detailed presentation on the achievements made from the two days Pak-China forum.
The participants of the forums laid great emphasis on giving sustainability to the forum in the days to come and decided to make it an annual feature. The next meeting of the forum would be held in October this year in Beijing.
In his brief address on the occasion, Ahsan Iqbal proposed to make cooperation in space technology between Pakistan and China as part of the historic declaration, saying it would take the Pak-China relations to new heights.
Pakistan and China, he proposed, should launch joint space mission programme comprising astronauts of both countries as “this is the strength of the CPEC to increases more connectivity between the two friendly countries.” It will shape up the future destiny of both the nations, he commented.
He lauded the organisers of the Pak-China forum for holding such a successful event and said it would ensure stability to the world peace. “I assure you on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and government of Pakistan that we are committed in implementation of the CPEC in letter and spirit. I give open invitation to Chinese firms to directly contact us in case of any problem they are facing in Pakistan. We will remove all the obstacles in the way of CPEC”.
The CPEC, he said, would create dozens of Karamay like cities in Pakistan. “The people of Pakistan will benefit from this joint venture. The sun is rising from the east and the history will not forget what was accomplished today from the two days moot of this historic forum. It will bring everlasting changes in the region”.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed in his address termed the event as a great development in the region wherein Pakistan and China were taking the lead role. He also made a mention of the positive development taking place in the region which he said would cast good impact on the CPEC and referred to peace process in Kabul with support of Pakistan and China and Iran nuclear deal to substantiate his view point.
He said the government of Pakistan had allocated Rs 3 billion for building the western corridor of the CPEC passing through the less developed areas KPK and Baluchistan.
Senator Mushahid said this region, which was in the eyes of storms since Russian invasion, was heading towards betterment nowadays, adding the time has come to settle the things so that Pak-China could play key role to this effect.