Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday that friendship between Pakistan and China had turned into strong economic relations.
He was talking to a delegation of mid-career diplomats of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said during the visit of Chinese president to Pakistan, historic economic package of 46 billion dollars was announced and there was no other example of such a big economic package of China. He said China and Pakistan by working on China-Pakistan Ecomomic Corridor (CPEC) projects would establish a new example of cooperation and friendship in the world.
He said economic package would not only bring progress and prosperity but Pakistan would also become economically strong. He said the region would progress due to CPEC and new job opportunities would be created and poverty and hunger would be eliminated.
He said no country including India should object to CPEC. He said the CPEC was a strong mechanism to defeat terrorism. He said that CPEC project would help in elimination of terrorism and extremism. He said the concept of genuine freedom could not be complete without economic freedom. He said that CPEC projects were of vital importance with regard to economic independence. He said that work would be carried out speedily on CPEC projects. He said that CPEC project had been evolved under the thinking to benefit the common man and no effort would be spared for the implementation of this project.
He said out of investment package of 46 billion dollars, a sum of 33 billion dollars would be spent only on energy projects. He said Pakistan would benefit from the development model of China to fulfil its dream of progress and prosperity. Shahbaz Sharif said that complete security would be given to Chinese working in Pakistan and the government had made comprehensive arrangements for ensuring the security to the Chinese nationals.
The members of Chinese delegation while expressing their views said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif played an important role in strengthening Pak-China relations. They said the steps taken by Shahbaz Sharif for the welfare of common man were commendable. They said the federal government and the Punjab government were taking excellent measures for the improvement of economy. The Chinese delegation also congratulated Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on the completion and inauguration of Pakistan metro bus project.
