Pakistan and China on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the iron-clad and all-weather strategic cooperative partnership through enhanced cooperation, reflecting their unique bilateral relationship, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The bilateral ties and cooperation were discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, wherein they agreed that the relationship between their countries was unique and unparalleled which should be reflected in their enhanced bilateral cooperation.
Both leaders also discussed important regional and global developments and agreed to continue close cooperation between Pakistan and China in this regard.
Prime Minister Shehbaz reaffirmed the desire to continue working closely with China for the successful implementation of the next phase of upgraded China Pakistan Economic Corridor, with its five new corridors.
Shehbaz Sharif congratulated President Xi Jinping on the success of the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Tianjin and offered his felicitations on the 80th anniversary of World’s Anti-Fascist War.
Lauding President Xi Jinping for his visionary and transformational leadership that has inspired China’s remaining journey towards modernization and progress, Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan took great pride in China’s achievements and would always stand ready to work together with China in this great journey.
The prime minister appreciated China’s unflinching support to Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and socio-economic development, as well as the significance of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as a flagship project of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to help both countries to build an even stronger Pakistan-China community with a shared future.
Shehbaz Sharif hailed President Xi Jinping’s strong commitment to strengthen multilateralism and said Pakistan fully supported President Xi’s landmark steps in this regard including the Global Governance Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative as well as Global Civilization Initiative.
These initiatives would serve the collective global good and contribute to regional as well as global peace, stability and development, he added.
President Xi said that China would continue to assist Pakistan in all fields of economic growth and development, especially as the two countries were now ushering in the second phase of CPEC that would focus on Pakistan’s most important economic sectors.
President Xi said that as global changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a quicker pace, a strong China-Pakistan relationship is conducive to safeguarding regional peace and development. “The two sides should accelerate building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, to bring more benefits to the two peoples and set up a model for the broader neighbourhood.”
He said China stands ready to work with Pakistan to build upgraded versions of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, and hopes Pakistan will take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz renewed his “most cordial” invitation to President Xi Jinping to undertake an official visit to Pakistan next year, when both countries would celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishment of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties.–Agencies