Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that Pakistan’s development roadmap and government initiatives resonate strongly with President Xi Jinping’s vision for progress and prosperity, reflecting the deep-rooted partnership between the two nations.
Addressing students and faculty members at Tianjin University, he emphasized that Pakistan shares a common destiny with China and must benefit from the knowledge imparted by Chinese universities to achieve economic and agricultural progress. With 60% of Pakistan’s population comprising youth, he said the country faced both a challenge and an opportunity — one that could be unlocked in collaboration with China.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly expressed his determination to emulate China in accelerating the pace of socio-economic progress in Pakistan and the views expressed by him during his address at the university are reflective of his overall vision for development of the country. Shehbaz Sharif demonstrated his passion for development both as Chief Minister of Punjab and the chief executive of the country and his desire to forge economic ties with China as well as Turkiye is, therefore, understandable as the two countries excelled in almost all fields through hard work and innovation. The experience of the developed countries bears testimony to the fact that the surest way to progress and prosperity is proper investment in human resource development and research and development. In a welcome development, China has opened its door for Pakistani students in all disciplines and it is for the government and people of Pakistan to exploit the opportunity fully. As learning is not a one-time phenomenon but a lifelong, continuous and active process for adapting to a changing world and improving societal progress, it is imperative that we also make due investment in establishment of quality institutions of higher learning in collaboration with famous global institutions. It is also a reality that research and development is not a priority in Pakistan as is also evident from different policy approaches of the government and one fails to understand how we can achieve accelerated progress without investment in R&D. Again, China lifted over 800 million people out of poverty but in Pakistan more and more people are going below poverty line mainly because of faulty policies. We need to learn lessons from China in a holistic manner.
