- Maleeha says CPEC to boost regional, global economic growth
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN Maleeha Lodhi has lauded Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concept of building a community of shared future for mankind, saying it was critical for world peace and development.
In an interview with the Xinhua news agency, she said that the concept, which was expounded in President Xi’s address to the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) earlier this month, represents a vision for promoting international cooperation in a world where nations were interdependent and interlinked.
“In our interconnected world, no single country or a group of countries can address the complex transnational security and development challenges confronting us,” she said, adding that this concept presented an innovative approach by seeking to build an international community based on the convergence of interests and cooperation rather than competition.
She also said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt Road Initiative, would open up new opportunities for development, enhanced connectivity and greater people-to-people contacts between the two countries, boosting regional and global economic growth.
Elaborating her remarks about President Xi’s idea of creating a community of shared future, Maleeha said that it would promote economic prosperity and development for all and not some, and where nations complement each other to realise the shared objectives of eliminating poverty and achieving lasting prosperity.
“In addition to traditional challenges, newer security threats like transnational terrorism and cybercrime transcend national borders and disrupt global security, thus making it impossible for any single country to tackle them alone,” she said. The community of shared interests represents an effective response to threats in a world characterised by an increasingly complex and multidimensional security environment, she added.
Moreover, promoting regional and global cooperation for development in a fair and equitable manner also reinforces security, as it bridges gaps between countries and reduces disparities, thus overcoming confrontation, she said. “In this regard, the Belt Road Initiative stands out as the most significant initiative of our times for promoting transnational connectivity, enhancing trade and investment and facilitating cooperation to fully utilise the economic potential of the participating countries.”
By promoting regional connectivity, enhancing trade and investment and stimulating regional growth, the Belt Road Initiative can be expected to help improve the lives of an estimated three billion people in China, South Asia and Central Asia, who would benefit from the economic corridor, Ambassador Maleeha said.
In the realm of security, a community of shared future, based on common interests and shared responsibilities, would entail building trust and confidence among nations, she said, adding that such an approach would significantly contribute towards enhanced global security, and greater regional peace and stability.
