President Mamnoon Hussain Sunday expressed the hope that China’s sincere efforts would bring permanent peace and stability in the region and assured that Pakistan would continue to fully cooperate in this regard.
The president was talking to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who called on him, with his delegation at Aiwan-e-Sadr, according to a press release.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong, and Chinese special Envoy for Afghan Affairs Deng Xijun besides other senior officials, were also present.
On the occasion, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed trilateral conference of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan to promote stability in the region and said that Pakistan was quite capable of establishing stability in the region.
He also conveyed the message of good wishes from the Chinese President Xi Jinping on which the President thanked him. The President said China’s serious efforts to maintain stability in Afghanistan and the region were the manifestation of their sincerity.
The president underscored that Pakistan earnestly wished for establishment of peace in Afghanistan so that stability in the region could be maintained. In this regard, Pakistan would support every serious effort, he added. The president emphasised that Pakistan was committed towards friendly relations with all of its neighbours and also wanted peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues with India, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said security of the Chinese friends, working in Pakistan, remained the foremost priority and Government of Pakistan was undertaking all possible steps to recover the two abducted Chinese nationals.
He said Pakistan has raised a 15,000 strong Special Security Division for the protection of Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects. The president pointed out that an indiscriminate action was being taken against the terrorists and Pakistan also considered the enemies of China as a threat to its own security.
The president congratulated the Chinese foreign minister on successfully holding the One Belt and One Road Forum and said that Pakistan stood with China in the promotion of this visionary initiative.
The Chinese foreign minister said Pakistan and Afghanistan were the neighbouring countries of China and stability in the region was essential for their development and progress.
China would continue to play its role in this regard. He said that Pakistan has always supported China on all issues and they were grateful for this support. He said the future of Pak-China friendship was bright and this friendship would stand forever. He said they were expecting the power generation projects under CPEC to be completed before time. He mentioned that soon after the completion of power generation projects, many other development projects would be completed so that problems of the common man could be reduced.
He said Pakistan’s economic strategy was very good and it has resulted in the development of several sectors which would further mitigate the problems of the common man. He expressed the hope that the development process in Pakistan would continue. He also appreciated the role of the president in promoting friendship between Pakistan and China and said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif played a very constructive role in the OBOR forum.
He thanked the Government of Pakistan for establishing a special force for the protection of Chinese citizens, adding that the role of Pakistan in this regard was commendable.