- Xi assures China’s unswerving support to Pakistan’s efforts in safeguarding its national security
Almost all members of the Uyghur militant group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) have been eliminated from Pakistan, President Mamnoon Hussain told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing.
The Pakistani head of the state, who is in Beijing for commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, said Operation Zarb-i-Azb “has been successful in eradicating the terrorism from our country”.
“It has also been very helpful in eliminating the ETIM element from our country and I think almost all the ETIM people in our country have been eliminated. Maybe, if they are there, there should be very few,” Hussain said.
China blames violent unrest in its far western region of Xinjiang on separatist groups like ETIM, who it says want to set up an independent state called East Turkestan and have bases in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many foreign experts, however, have questioned whether ETIM exists as the coherent group China claims it is.
Moreover, Hussain said special measures have been taken for the security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, Radio Pakistan reported. China and Pakistan are “iron brothers” and always help each other “with great zeal”, he added.
The president noted the great contribution that the Chinese people made to the war 70 years ago, and said that Pakistan cherished its ties with China. Pakistan is committed to building the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and will continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination with China on international issues, he added.
In their meeting in Beijing, the presidents of both the countries vowed to increase cooperation on international issues. Issues pertaining to Pak-China relations, bilateral cooperation, regional and global security situation were discussed while both the presidents agreed to complete the CPEC on schedule.
Talking to Pakistan’s head of the state, the Chinese president said that that China views its relations with Pakistan as “very important”.
“China will continue to enrich the China-Pakistan community of shared destiny in a bid to play an exemplary role for other neighboring countries,” he said.
During Xi’s visit to Pakistan in April, the two sides agreed to cooperate in areas including port construction, transport infrastructure, energy and industry. China will keep in close contact with Pakistan on cooperation in industrial zones, Xi said.
“China will unswervingly support Pakistan’s efforts in safeguarding its national security, and is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Pakistan in international and regional issues,” the Chinese president was quoted by a Chinese news agency.
Later, addressing a function at Pakistan-China Friendship Centre in Beijing, President Mamnoon Hussain invited Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan in different fields. He said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor project will bring prosperity in two countries and the region. He said Pakistan and China are bind in everlasting relations of friendship.
He said Pakistan China Friendship Centre is further strengthening these relations and they want to
During President Xi’s visit to Pakistan in April, Pakistani and Chinese officials signed a series of more than 50 accords to inaugurate the CPEC, which will create a network of roads, railways and pipelines linking China’s restive west to the Arabian Sea through Pakistan.
The project is part of Beijing’s “Belt and Road” plan to expand its trade and transport footprint across Central and South Asia. It will give China easier access to Middle Eastern oil via the deepwater port of Gwadar.
Then there have been security concerns over much of the plan, which relies on developing Gwadar — control of which was passed to a Chinese company in 2013.
But linking Gwadar to the rest of Pakistan and on to the western Chinese city of Kashgar, 3,000 kilometres away, would involve major infrastructure work in Balochistan.
Earlier in April, the army formally announced the creation of a 10,000-man strong special force for protecting the development projects to be carried out under CPEC and the Chinese workers associated with them.