Pakistan-China relations to continue to progress under Imran’s leadership

BEIJING: A former Chinese diplomat has expressed the confidence that the relations between Pakistan and China, all-weather friends and strategic partners, would continue to prosper after the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, takes oath as the prime minister of Pakistan.

“After decades of trials and hardships and strong public opinion, the Pakistan-China relations will continue to be strengthened after Imran Khan takes over,” former Chinese diplomat and senior research fellow of Charhar Institute, Cheng Xizhong told APP here on Sunday.

He further said, “A change in Pakistan-China relations will only be the hope of some forces.”

Cheng said that for the first time in the history of Pakistan, a third party – PTI led by Imran Khan, has won the general election, breaking the long-standing rule of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in turn.

Over the past many years, PPP and PML-N ruled the country in turn, which was actually a family rule. “In the family rule, the problem of corruption becomes quite prominent and as a result, the two parties gradually lost the trust of the people and the foundation of the rule.”

Imran Khan, leader of the majority party in the parliament, won the general election mainly because he held high the two banners of fighting corruption and engaging in reform and catered to the expectations of ordinary people.

He said that Imran Khan will have to work hard to deliver on his promises and fight a very difficult battle against corruption.

While commenting on Pak-India relations under the PTI government, he said that Imran Khan has brought a ray of hope for the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan.

In his victory speech, Imran Khan said that if India comes one step closer to us, we will take two steps towards India.

After Imran Khan won the election, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sent a message of congratulations, reiterating his desire to achieve peace and stability in the region.

While commenting on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, he opined that both the countries would continue their cooperation in future as well.

In recent years, the CPEC has played a positive role in maintaining a relatively high growth rate in the Pakistani economy.

“The corridor will not only benefit the economy economically but will also help improve people’s lives and generate social benefits.”

He stressed that the project has significantly solved the power shortage problem in Pakistan and is expected to create one million jobs for the local people.