The very fact that Prime Minister Li Qiang kept his Islamabad visit intact despite conspiracies hatched by foes of the two countries is reflection of deep commitment of Chinese leadership to the cause of friendship with Pakistan. The visit, first by any Chinese Prime Minister in eleven years, will surely go a long way in diversifying strategic partnership of the two countries, sending a strong message to all concerned that relations with Pakistan is a priority for Beijing.
No doubt, premier Li Qiang will represent his country in the summit of Heads of Governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) being held in Islamabad but comprehensive bilateral touch given to the visit was, as highlighted by Pakistan Foreign Office, an expression of the importance attached by Pakistan and China to their “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership”.
It is an occasion for two sides to reaffirm mutual support on issues of core interest, advance high-quality development of CPEC and reinforce regular exchanges on important regional and global developments. It is also important to note that Premier Li is accompanied by ministers and senior officials, including from the ministries of foreign affairs and commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, signifying economic, development and investment orientation of the visit, which is in line with the desire of Pakistani leadership to attract greater foreign investment in different sectors of national economy.
The agenda of visit is wide-ranging with focus on expanding cooperation and kick-starting next phase of CPEC. This aspect has a special significance as some misguided local elements backed by some foreign powers have been trying to harm progress on vital CPEC projects. These projects and Chinese nationals working on them have repeatedly been targeted by terrorists backed by intelligence agencies of hostile countries in a bid to undermine this cooperative relationship but people of Pakistan are grateful to the Chinese leadership for their firm resolve to foil designs of such forces. Not only work on all CPEC related projects is continuing but the two countries have agreed to take it to new heights in the second phase focusing on cooperation in vital sectors like agriculture, industry, IT and telecom, railways and transfer of technology.
There is no doubt that dastardly attacks on Chinese nationals have highlighted the security threats but Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is personally looking after security issues for Chinese manpower in Pakistan and China has declared it would work with Islamabad to sort out the threat in a satisfactory manner. It may also be mentioned that today there is complete consensus in Pakistan that CPEC is contributing immensely to socio-economic development of Pakistan and that this cooperative venture must be pursued with added vigour by the two sides. We hope that the CPEC will get a new impetus as a result of the visit of the Chinese Prime Minister and hiccups, if any, will be sorted out on priority basis.
It is also a matter of satisfaction that Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong is working hard to pave the way for an intensified economic engagement between the two countries. On the eve of the visit of Chinese PM, he launched two reports of China Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan (CCCPK) titled “The Glorious 11 Years – How Chinese Companies Reshaped the Power Sector in Pakistan” and “Business Climate Index of Chinese Companies in Pakistan,” highlighting the role of Chinese companies and challenges facing them.
The survey also revealed a resilient spirit among Chinese entrepreneurs, who are optimistic about Pakistan’s economic development. More and more Chinese companies are expressing keen interest to come to Pakistan and hopefully a comprehensive framework would be evolved with mutual discussions to exploit this great potential for investment.
