IN the otherwise polarized political landscape of the country, political parties of Pakistan have demonstrated a rare unity on the question of friendship with China and the need to foster cooperation under the banner of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). They conveyed this message through the CPEC Pakistan-China Political Parties Forum co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and visiting Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) and member of the Communist Party Central Committee Liu Jianchao. Established in 2019, the JCM of Political Parties on CPEC is a regular consultation mechanism between the Communist Party of China and the political parties of Pakistan, which held its previous meetings in March 2019 and August 2020, virtually.
It was an encouraging to note that the Islamabad meeting was attended by representatives of almost all major political parties as prominent participants, among others, included Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Science and Technology Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Senate Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, PPP’s Hina Rabbani Khar, PTI’s Senator Ali Zafar and Raoof Hassan, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Munazza Hassan of Istehkam Pakistan Party, National Party’s Senator Jan Muhammad and ANP’s Afrasiab Khattak. The leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and China by thwarting all nefarious designs. This augurs well for further strengthening of all-weather friendship between the two trusted neighbours as their friendship and cooperation is a firm guarantee for regional peace and security in the backdrop of nefarious designs of some powers vis-à-vis China and Pakistan. It is also important to observe that the level of their commitment and enthusiasm notwithstanding, all successive governments in Pakistan including those of PML(N), PPP and PTI played their role in fostering cooperation with China in various fields and pursued CPEC initiative as it is playing a crucial role in the progress and development of Pakistan. Dar aptly stated that CPEC constituted a vital pillar of the Pak-China economic and strategic partnership and that there was “complete unanimity” on its significance as it catalyzed Pakistan’s endeavours toward socio-economic prosperity and regional connectivity. No doubt, CPEC has remained focus of sharp and venomous propaganda by vested interests but the fact remains it helped Pakistan tackle the menace of load-shedding, create world standard infrastructure and have access to modern technology, which would help the country exploit the potential of IT, telecom and agriculture sectors. It is also because of the infrastructure projects, launched in the length and breadth of the country, that the CPEC is linking the backward and inaccessible regions to the national mainstream besides creating thousands of employment opportunities at the doorsteps of the local population.
Based on the experience of his great country, the Chinese dignitary rightly advised the political leadership of Pakistan to shun their differences as “internal stability is imperative for any nation to develop”. Elaborating, he said, there could be sustainable development only when all political parties in a country join hands to ensure political and social stability. “And for all these years, China has always been striving to maintain a good balance of reform, development and stability — each of the three fundamentals is indispensable,” he added. We hope the political leadership of the country will demonstrate maturity and listen to the cogent advice of the Chinese Minister as this is intrinsically linked to the socio-economic development of the country. Political differences apart, there is an urgent need to develop consensus on the contours of the economic policy that the country should pursue irrespective of who is in power. Similarly, no party should fall prey to the propaganda and pressure of vested interests as far as strengthening of friendship with China and expansion of the CPEC is concerned. It is a matter of satisfaction for people of Pakistan that despite irritants, the Chinese Minister expressed readiness of his country to “build the upgraded version of the CPEC”. He, however, cited the business and security environment as main hazards disturbing CPEC cooperation. Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership has already expressed firm commitment to ensure foolproof security for Chinese nationals working on different projects and it is hoped business issues would amicably be sorted out through timely intervention of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which is mandated to take measures to promote foreign investment.
