THE visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to China has been a resounding success as the two friendly countries have expressed their firm resolve to work hand in hand to push China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new level. The commitment to this effect came during the fifth round of the Foreign Minister Level China-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue which was co-chaired by Dar and the Chinese FM Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday. The two sides pledged to enhance pragmatic cooperation in all fields.
The latest understanding is reflective of the growing understanding of the two countries to consolidate and diversify their ties in every sphere of life despite conspiracies being hatched by vested interests. This is also in line with repeated pronouncements made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet colleagues to revive the momentum of cooperation in all fields which, unfortunately, remained somewhat wanting due to lack of due interest by the PTI Government, understandably under foreign pressure. Chinese leadership including President Xi Jinping has also been expressing their commitment to work closely with the new government in Pakistan to help the country regain stability in every respect. It is a matter of great satisfaction to the people of Pakistan that the Chinese Foreign Minister, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, categorically stated that his country firmly supports Pakistan in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and in playing a bigger role in international and regional affairs. This is important in the backdrop of both visible and invisible efforts being made to destabilize Pakistan and squeeze the country economically through different tactics. As against this, China is among a few other friendly countries (like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate and Qatar) that extend concrete financial and economic assistance to help stabilize the country. The Chinese FM expressed the confidence that under the leadership of the new government, Pakistan will enter a new stage of political unity, social stability, controllable security and sustainable development. These are, indeed, goals of the government in Pakistan and Beijing deserves appreciation for not only understanding the aspirations of people of Pakistan but expressing full support in realization of these cherished objectives. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a landmark initiative that is contributing immensely to socio-economic development of Pakistan. However, due to lack of necessary vision on the part of the previous government in Pakistan, almost all projects under the banner of this initiative remained dormant, denying the country of far-reaching benefits besides integrating far-off and backward regions with the national mainstream. It is encouraging that the Shehbaz Sharif Government is making sustained efforts to revive the lost momentum of the Corridor and the two countries reached important understanding in this regard during the recent visit of Pakistan delegation led by Prof. Ahsan Iqbal. In a highly appreciable development, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Pakistani counterpart that China was ready to work with Pakistan to develop an “upgraded version” of the CPEC. His remarks that both sides should effectively implement the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation, strengthening cooperation in areas like industry, agriculture, mining, new energy and information technology are reflective of the willingness of China to help Pakistan implement its vision about industrialization and modernization of the country’s agriculture. Similar sentiments were also expressed by Chinese Executive Vice Premier, Ding Xuexiang, during his meeting with Mr. Dar when the former expressed China’s full support to Pakistan in all areas of cooperation, including economy, trade and investment, and reaffirmed the importance of fast-track implementation of CPEC projects for mutual prosperity and development. We have been emphasizing in these columns repeatedly that political commitment and willingness to take the iron-clad relationship to a higher pedestal is there and there is a need to translate these pledges into concrete plans on a fast track basis especially in relation to an all-encompassing implementation of the second phase of the CPEC.
