Riaz Ahmed Malik
Group Editor Daily National Herald Tribune and Daily Al-Akhbar
The Pak-China friendship has now entered into its 71 years which has been symbol of mutual trust, immense socio-economic integration, greater regional connectivity, science & technology cooperation and military and security cooperation since 1951.
In this regard, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has revolutionized prospects of further strengthening of bilateral relations in diverse sectors of economy, investment, agro-economy, eradication of poverty and generation of new jobs. Indeed the grand success of CPEC has become an icon of greater regional connectivity, peace, stability and harmony.
Although forces of darkness and destruction have been chasing the Pak-China friendship through various invisible tools of propaganda and persecutions but caravans of socio-economic prosperity have been smoothly sailing towards shores of greater regional connectivity, health, education, infrastructural development and above all people-to-people diplomacy.
In this direction, to safeguard best interest of the country, senior management of Daily English Newspaper “National Herald Tribune” have decided to publish special edition about CPEC & BRI on regular basis which will hopefully, mitigate all false and fake propaganda of the West through dissemination of truth embodied with human wisdom, logic, research and devoution. It will be a giant step towards formation of a National Narrative about CPEC and Pak-China Iron Clad Friendship.
Moreover, the senior management of Center for South Asia & International Studies (CSIA) have been advocating the need to form a Corridor of Knowledge to defend the strategic orientations of Pak-China friendship and CPEC alike through rigorous and constant international conferences/webinars and policy consultations since long. Thus series of international conferences/webinars, publications and interviews will be arranged in the days to come.
Since its inception both countries have been standing and ready to further synergize development strategies, firmly advance the development of CPEC, hold a new round of CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee meeting in due course, implement the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation, strengthen cooperation in industries, people’s livelihood and agriculture, and jointly implement high quality development of CPEC with new Pakistan’s government.
After the terrorist attack on a van of the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi on April 26, Pakistani president, prime minister, speaker of the National Assembly, leaders of various political parties and people from all sectors unanimously condemned the terrorist attack. In this connection, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan to convey condolences at the earliest opportunity and sent a letter of condolence to Chinese leaders.
Furthermore, the federal cabinet of Pakistan has assured and decided to take all possible and unprecedented security measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan. China fully recognizes this.
It suggests that all stakeholders of both sides should take immediate action and adopt firm and effective measures to deal with it with iron hands. It is high time to integrate all efforts to speed up the investigation and hunting down of the perpetrators and give exemplary punishment to them as soon as possible.
In this connection, targeted measures should be initiated to improve security protection for Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan because poor law and order situation has always direct correlation with political stability, social harmony and of course economic sustainability of the country. Additionally, sincere efforts must be made to give timely security warnings, and plug security loopholes so as to prevent similar incidents from happening again. Moreover, all socio-economic and geopolitical flaws and miseries of any region in the country should not be a potential red line in the easy and smooth development of the CPEC. Time and again China has been supporting Pakistan in enhancing its counter-terrorism capacity, and stands ready to make joint efforts with Pakistan to thwart any attempt to undermine China-Pakistan relations.
Thus joint security mechanism should be mantra of both the countries. Undoubtedly, both countries counties are proud of our deeply rooted friendship. Hopefully, intensified and constant people-to-people cooperation and diplomacy between the two countries will not be deterred by any act of terrorism. Chinese government has already assured its counterpart that the Confucius Institutes in Pakistan will continue to teach Chinese to Pakistani students through various means to promote the traditional friendship between the two countries.
Hopefully, people-to-people and cultural diplomacy and befitting propositions between two brotherly countries will never stop, the hearts of the two peoples will become closer.
I would like to specifically mention the positive, productive and participatory role of the President Xi Jinping in the further strengthening of bilateral relations of Pakistan and China. His visionary leadership has been a stimulator factor in the immense socio-economic integration, greater regional connectivity and last but not least trustworthy political consultations.
The CPEC fetches US$46 billion investment in the country which has successfully diminished darkness of load shedding, scarcity of water resources and minimize energy and food security threats in the country.
Thanks, both countries have always shown each other with sincerity and shared weal and woe. China is firmly committed to advancing China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and jointly addressing international and regional challenges. Hopefully CPEC Phase-II will be initiated very soon in the country.
I believe Xi’s Global Development Initiative and shared prosperity must be mantra of both the countries. In this connection, joint efforts of both countries and all stakeholders should be clubbed for achieving all desired goals of socio-economic prosperity, economic self-reliance, counter national narratives, military cooperation and last but not least, the building of a China-Pakistan community with a shared future should be pursued.
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been termed vital for future of Pakistan’s macro-economy, massive industrialization, green transition, smarter economy, eradication of poverty and last but not least, generation of new jobs. It is high time that all stakeholders and political leaderships of both the countries should chalk out a comprehensive road map to foster business & commerce activities and projects pertaining to CPEC in the country. Moreover, harsh measures and zero-tolerance towards radicalization and terrorism must be taken to protect the strategic interest of both the country.
Terrorism is a curse and conspiracy against socio-economic prosperity which should be handled with iron hands.
