Chinese ambassador hails new stage of Sino-Pakistan friendship at SANGAM Gala 2018

-Youth Exchange Committee being set up to promote youth exchange programme, says Yao Jing

–Awards for best essays on Pak-China friendship distributed

ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing has said that the Sino-Pakistan friendship has entered a new stage of enhanced cooperation under which joint ventures between companies of the two countries and massive social sector development would be made.

“Pakistan is the only country with whom China has developed an all-weather strategic partnership. One can gauge the depth of this relationship by the fact that out of six corridors being developed under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), only China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a bilateral project,” said Ambassador Jing while addressing a gathering of students, academia, diplomats and journalists gathered at the Annual Sangam Club Gala 2018 held at the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday.

Senator Syed Mushahid Hussain was the chief guest of the event while Chinese embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Zhao Lijian, Senator Nuzhat Sadiq and the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Chairman Jamal Shah were also present on the occasion.

Yao Jing urged the youth to carry forward the Sino-Pakistan decades-old and deep-rooted friendship.

The envoy said that both the countries had agreed to set up a Youth Exchange Committee for facilitating the youth exchange programme between the two friendly countries during Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s recent visit to Beijing.

“Our friendship with Pakistan is based on principles and morality. CPEC is for the engagement of youth who make 65 per cent of Pakistan’s population. So, the youth can largely benefit from the opportunities that would develop out of the CPEC,” he added.

The ambassador told the attendees of the event that Sangam Club is a new leaf added to the tree of Pakistan-China friendship and it would go a long way in further cementing people-to-people contacts between the two iron-brother nations.

Speaking high of the two countries’ friendship, Jing hoped that the youth of the two countries will maintain the relationship’s momentum which has stood the test of time. “It is a matter of great delight that our friendship is moving to a new stage of an enhanced cooperative partnership through the CPEC,” he said while adding that the purpose of CPEC is to help Pakistan in enhancing the level of peoples’ living standard.

“When China thinks of sharing its development, capital and experience, the first country that comes to its mind is Pakistan. Our friendship is unique and unparalleled by any other countries of the world in terms of mutual trust,” he further stated.

About the CPEC, Yao Jing said that it is a purely economic agenda that means to bring prosperity to the common man and expressed his pleasure that it has a substantial role in enhancing Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The ambassador assured that people-to-people contacts and mutual exchanges, particularly at the young generation’s level, will keep growing in the years to come.

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Mushahid Hussain appreciated Ambassador Yao Jing for his outstanding contribution in further boosting their bilateral ties under the framework of CPEC. He said that it is a matter of great satisfaction that the leaders of the two countries are committed to implementing the CPEC’s projects in letter and spirit.

He lauded China’s reforms and opening-up policies, saying that it was not only bringing development in their own country but the whole world.

“Negative propaganda against CPEC will never work since it is already being implemented with the operation of Gwadar’s port and the opening of a western route,” said the senator.

Later on, awards were distributed among winners of an essay competition on the topic of ‘Pakistan-China Friendship’.

Abeeha Hassan from Karachi won the award for the best essay in English while Taqseer Hussain from Gilgit Baltistan (GB) won the best essay award in Urdu.

Chinese students and artists performed with musical instruments while cultural performances were also enjoyed by the audience.