BEIJING: Pakistan and China on Monday signed Executive Programme of Cultural Agreement for further consolidating cultural relations and promoting people-to-people contacts between the two states. Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Chinese Minister of Culture Luo Shugang signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries. Ambassador of Pakistan to China and senior officials of both the countries were also present on the occasion.
In her meeting with the Chinese Minister of Culture before the signing ceremony, the Minister of State said that the relations between the iron brothers and strategic partners were deeper than oceans and higher than mountains, based on mutual trust and respect.
She expressed the confidence that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would take the bilateral relations between the two countries to new heights. Marriyum said that people of both countries wanted to enhance the cultural collaboration and added that President Xi Jinping’s vision of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was a historic milestone not only for the countries along the belt and road but also the region and beyond. The MOS said that relations between Pakistan and China had been further strengthened by CPEC, a flagship project of BRI.
After signing the agreement, there would be a greater responsibility on both the countries to strive for the time-bound implementation process. She said that during the 19th Congress of the China Communist Party (CPC), President Xi Jinping stressed upon cultural exchanges as the fourth core component of the BRI. The Minister of State said that the economic cooperation, infrastructure development, energy projects and the people to people exchanges would enhance contacts and share & promote the heritage of both countries.
The Minister of State proposed mutual photography exhibition at the Pak-China National Culture Center in Islamabad w had already been established and also the grant of cultural scholarship to students in universities. She also proposed to establish an FM Radio with an access along the CPEC route in Pakistan.
